The History of Literaturehttp://historyofliterature.com
A PodcastThu, 17 Aug 2017 04:07:28 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1https://i1.wp.com/historyofliterature.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cropped-history-of-literature-db.png?fit=32%2C32The History of Literaturehttp://historyofliterature.com
3232Enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics.<br />
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Find out more at historyofliterature.com and facebook.com/historyofliterature.Jacke WilsoncleanJacke Wilsonjohnpony@gmail.comjohnpony@gmail.com (Jacke Wilson)A PodcastThe History of Literaturehttp://historyofliterature.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/history-of-literature-db.pnghttp://historyofliterature.com
johnpony@gmail.comLiterature enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics.
Find out more at jackewilson.com and historyofliterature.com.112285468105 Funny Women, Crimes Against Book Clubs, George Orwell, and More (with Kathy Cooperman)http://historyofliterature.com/105-funny-women-crimes-against-book-clubs-george-orwell-and-more-with-kathy-cooperman/
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 04:07:28 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=669http://historyofliterature.com/105-funny-women-crimes-against-book-clubs-george-orwell-and-more-with-kathy-cooperman/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/105-funny-women-crimes-against-book-clubs-george-orwell-and-more-with-kathy-cooperman/feed/0Kathy Cooperman, author of the new novel Crimes Against a Book Club, joins the show to discuss everything from the secret lives of book clubs to her own journey from improv to lawyering to becoming an author. She also tells Jacke about an inspiring Bette Davis movie, some books that she’s loved, and what a … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/105-funny-women-crimes-against-book-clubs-george-orwell-and-more-with-kathy-cooperman/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">105 Funny Women, Crimes Against Book Clubs, George Orwell, and More (with Kathy Cooperman)</span></a>Kathy Cooperman, author of the new novel Crimes Against a Book Club, joins the show to discuss everything from the secret lives of book clubs to her own journey from improv to lawyering to becoming an author. She also tells Jacke about an inspiring Bette Davis movie, some books that she’s loved, and what a move from the East Coast to the West Coast taught her about the way men and women deal with the aging process.

Do you love literature and the arts? Would you like to support the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. Your contribution is greatly appreciated!

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Kathy Cooperman, author of the new novel Crimes Against a Book Club, joins the show to discuss everything from the secret lives of book clubs to her own journey from improv to lawyering to becoming an author.Crimes Against a Book Club, joins the show to discuss everything from the secret lives of book clubs to her own journey from improv to lawyering to becoming an author. She also tells Jacke about an inspiring Bette Davis movie, some books that she’s loved, and what a move from the East Coast to the West Coast taught her about the way men and women deal with the aging process.
Works discussed include:Down and Out in Paris in London by George OrwellThe Bedwetter by Sarah SilvermanThe Sex Lives of Cannibals by Maarten TroostA Shock to the System by Jeremy BrettMr. Skeffington (with Bette Davis)
Do you love literature and the arts? Would you like to support the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. Your contribution is greatly appreciated!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Spy Glass” and “Sweeter Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.669 104 King Learhttp://historyofliterature.com/104-king-lear/
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 04:04:49 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=632http://historyofliterature.com/104-king-lear/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/104-king-lear/feed/2We all know that Shakespeare’s King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies ever written. But was it too tragic? Dr. Johnson thought it might be. Leo Tolstoy thought it was just a bad play – causing George Orwell to come valiantly to Shakespeare’s defense. Jacke Wilson takes a look at the play that starts … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/104-king-lear/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">104 King Lear</span></a>We all know that Shakespeare’s King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies ever written. But was it too tragic? Dr. Johnson thought it might be. Leo Tolstoy thought it was just a bad play – causing George Orwell to come valiantly to Shakespeare’s defense. Jacke Wilson takes a look at the play that starts with a famous nothing and ends with a horrible something, moving from fairy tale to something far darker.

Do you love literature and the arts? Are you looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. Your generous contribution is greatly appreciated!

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>We all know that Shakespeare’s King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies ever written. But was it too tragic? Dr. Johnson thought it might be. Leo Tolstoy thought it was just a bad play – causing George Orwell to come valiantly to Shakespeare’s defens...
Do you love literature and the arts? Are you looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. Your generous contribution is greatly appreciated!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).632 103 Literature Goes to the Movies Part 1 – Great Adaptationshttp://historyofliterature.com/103-literature-goes-to-the-movies-part-1-great-adaptations/
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 04:04:31 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=627http://historyofliterature.com/103-literature-goes-to-the-movies-part-1-great-adaptations/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/103-literature-goes-to-the-movies-part-1-great-adaptations/feed/0The lights dim, the audience hushes in expectation, and the light and magic begin. In some ways (the crowd, the sound) the experience of watching a movie could not be more different from reading a novel – and yet the two have some very important features in common. Novels and the cinema are intertwined, and … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/103-literature-goes-to-the-movies-part-1-great-adaptations/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">103 Literature Goes to the Movies Part 1 – Great Adaptations</span></a>The lights dim, the audience hushes in expectation, and the light and magic begin. In some ways (the crowd, the sound) the experience of watching a movie could not be more different from reading a novel – and yet the two have some very important features in common. Novels and the cinema are intertwined, and both show the power of a cracking good story told through what John Gardner called a vivid, continuous dream. In this special episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at great films made out of great works of literature.

Love literature and the arts? Looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. All your support is greatly appreciated!

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>The lights dim, the audience hushes in expectation, and the light and magic begin. In some ways (the crowd, the sound) the experience of watching a movie could not be more different from reading a novel – and yet the two have some very important featur...
Love literature and the arts? Looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. All your support is greatly appreciated!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).627 102 Pablo Nerudahttp://historyofliterature.com/102-pablo-neruda/
Thu, 27 Jul 2017 17:20:15 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=611http://historyofliterature.com/102-pablo-neruda/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/102-pablo-neruda/feed/0Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) lived an eventful life: from his youth in Chile, to the sensational reception of his book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1923), to the career in poetry that led to his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature (1971), to the political activities that made him internationally famous – but … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/102-pablo-neruda/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">102 Pablo Neruda</span></a>Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) lived an eventful life: from his youth in Chile, to the sensational reception of his book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1923), to the career in poetry that led to his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature (1971), to the political activities that made him internationally famous – but which also led to his exile and (possibly) his death. He was an icon of the twentieth century, giving readings of his poetry to stadiums with as many as 100,000 devoted fans, and his poetry – especially his love poems – are still among the most widely read and admired poems in Spanish or any other language. What made his poetry so special? Why did it resonate with the people of Chile (and the world)? And could we see another poet like him? Jacke Wilson takes a look at the life and works of Pablo Neruda.

Love literature and the arts? Looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. All your support is greatly appreciated!

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) lived an eventful life: from his youth in Chile, to the sensational reception of his book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1923), to the career in poetry that led to his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature (1971),
Love literature and the arts? Looking for a way to express your support for the History of Literature Podcast? Please visit patreon.com/literature and consider making a modest monthly donation, which will help to keep the show up and running. All your support is greatly appreciated!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).611 101 Writers at Workhttp://historyofliterature.com/101-writers-at-work/
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 13:30:24 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=607http://historyofliterature.com/101-writers-at-work/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/101-writers-at-work/feed/0We’re back! Recovered, rested, and ready to go with a brand new set of 100 episodes. In episode #101, we kick things off with superguest Mike Palindrome of the Literature Supporters Club who joins Jacke for a discussion of writers and their day jobs. How did famous writers earn their living? How did the experience … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/101-writers-at-work/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">101 Writers at Work</span></a>We’re back! Recovered, rested, and ready to go with a brand new set of 100 episodes. In episode #101, we kick things off with superguest Mike Palindrome of the Literature Supporters Club who joins Jacke for a discussion of writers and their day jobs. How did famous writers earn their living? How did the experience of working help (or hinder) their writing? We look at everything, from the fascinating to the mundane. All this, plus a special trivia contest!

Have you always wanted to support the show? Well, now you can! Just head over to patreon.com/literature to sign up for a modest monthly donation to help me defray costs. All your support is greatly appreciated!

]]>We’re back! Recovered, rested, and ready to go with a brand new set of 100 episodes. In episode #101, we kick things off with superguest Mike Palindrome of the Literature Supporters Club who joins Jacke for a discussion of writers and their day jobs.
Have you always wanted to support the show? Well, now you can! Just head over to patreon.com/literature to sign up for a modest monthly donation to help me defray costs. All your support is greatly appreciated!
Writers discussed include J.D. Salinger, Jack London, Haruki Murakami, Octavia Butler, Douglas Adams, Dorothy L. Sayers, William Carlos Williams, Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville, T.S. Eliot, Julia Child, Roald Dahl, Zane Grey, Graham Greene, William S. Burroughs, Robert Frost, John Ashberry, Tomas Transtromer, Amy Bloom, Anthony Trollope, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Franz Kafka, Agatha Christie, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Wallace Stevens, Salman Rushdie, Maya Angelou, Jeffrey Eugenides, James Wood, John LeCarre, Ian Fleming, Elmore Leonard, Harper Lee, Primo Levi, Sebastian Junger, Scott Turow, David Foster Wallace, and Joseph Heller.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).

]]>It’s here! Episode 100! Special guest Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, returns for a numbers-based theme: what are the greatest works of literature with numbers in the title? Authors discussed include Thomas Pynchon, Dr.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Quirky Dog” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.Jacke Wilson60:2860399 History and Mystery (with Radha Vatsal)http://historyofliterature.com/99-history-and-mystery-with-radha-vatsal/
Thu, 29 Jun 2017 04:05:54 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=598http://historyofliterature.com/99-history-and-mystery-with-radha-vatsal/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/99-history-and-mystery-with-radha-vatsal/feed/0Radha Vatsal, author of Murder Between the Lines: A Kitty Weeks Mystery, joins Jacke for a discussion of intrepid “girl” reporters in 1910s New York City and the books that likely influenced them. Authors discussed include Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the wide range of scientific … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/99-history-and-mystery-with-radha-vatsal/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">99 History and Mystery (with Radha Vatsal)</span></a>Radha Vatsal, author of Murder Between the Lines: A Kitty Weeks Mystery, joins Jacke for a discussion of intrepid “girl” reporters in 1910s New York City and the books that likely influenced them. Authors discussed include Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the wide range of scientific and pseudoscientific works describing New York City, journalism, and the role of education for women.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Radha Vatsal, author of Murder Between the Lines: A Kitty Weeks Mystery, joins Jacke for a discussion of intrepid “girl” reporters in 1910s New York City and the books that likely influenced them. Authors discussed include Henry James, Edith Wharton,Murder Between the Lines: A Kitty Weeks Mystery, joins Jacke for a discussion of intrepid “girl” reporters in 1910s New York City and the books that likely influenced them. Authors discussed include Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the wide range of scientific and pseudoscientific works describing New York City, journalism, and the role of education for women.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).598 98 Great Literary Feudshttp://historyofliterature.com/98-great-literary-feuds/
Thu, 22 Jun 2017 04:05:50 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=592http://historyofliterature.com/98-great-literary-feuds/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/98-great-literary-feuds/feed/0What happens when writers try to get along with other writers? Sometimes it goes well – and sometimes it ends in a fistfight, a drink in the face, or a spitting. Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at some of literature’s greatest feuds. Authors discussed include Gore Vidal, … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/98-great-literary-feuds/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">98 Great Literary Feuds</span></a>What happens when writers try to get along with other writers? Sometimes it goes well – and sometimes it ends in a fistfight, a drink in the face, or a spitting. Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at some of literature’s greatest feuds. Authors discussed include Gore Vidal, Gertrude Stein, Norman Mailer, Marcel Proust, Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov, Rick Moody, Jonathan Franzen, Colson Whitehead, Lillian Hellman, John LeCarre, Richard Ford, Dale Peck, Edmund Wilson, Margaret Drabble, Salman Rushdie, Edgar Allan Poe, and A.S. Byatt.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>What happens when writers try to get along with other writers? Sometimes it goes well – and sometimes it ends in a fistfight, a drink in the face, or a spitting. Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club,
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Spy Glass” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.592 97 Dad Poetry (with Professor Bill)http://historyofliterature.com/97-dad-poetry-with-professor-bill/
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 04:03:48 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=587http://historyofliterature.com/97-dad-poetry-with-professor-bill/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/97-dad-poetry-with-professor-bill/feed/0It’s Father’s Day weekend here in the U.S., and that means thinking about golf, grilling, and…poetry? On the History of Literature Podcast it does! Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College stops by the show to discuss some classic poems about fathers and fatherhood, “Digging” by Seamus Heaney and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. Jacke … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/97-dad-poetry-with-professor-bill/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">97 Dad Poetry (with Professor Bill)</span></a>It’s Father’s Day weekend here in the U.S., and that means thinking about golf, grilling, and…poetry? On the History of Literature Podcast it does! Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College stops by the show to discuss some classic poems about fathers and fatherhood, “Digging” by Seamus Heaney and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. Jacke asks the good professor whether his devotion to poetry has affected his relationship with his father or his kids, and the two discuss the two poems that Jacke’s dad loves: “The Passing of the Backhouse” by James Whitcomb Riley and “Little Willie Took a Chance” by Unknown. Jacke also delivers some thoughts about his father’s Eagle Scout rituals, and how a surprising revelation brought his father his son closer together (at Jacke’s expense). It’s a special edition devoted to Dad Poetry on the History of Literature!

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>It’s Father’s Day weekend here in the U.S., and that means thinking about golf, grilling, and…poetry? On the History of Literature Podcast it does! Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College stops by the show to discuss some classic poems about fathers...
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Bummin in Tremolo” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.587 96 Dracula, Lolita, and the Power of Volcanoes (with Jim Shepard)http://historyofliterature.com/96-dracula-lolita-and-the-power-of-volcanoes-with-jim-shepard/
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 04:03:16 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=580http://historyofliterature.com/96-dracula-lolita-and-the-power-of-volcanoes-with-jim-shepard/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/96-dracula-lolita-and-the-power-of-volcanoes-with-jim-shepard/feed/0Author Jim Shepard joins the podcast to discuss everything from the humor of Christopher Guest and S.J. Perelman to the poetic philosophy of Robert Frost and F.W. Murnau’s classic film, Nosferatu. He and host Jacke Wilson flutter around Nabokov’s Lolita, sink their teeth into Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and descend into the world of volcanoes in Krakatua … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/96-dracula-lolita-and-the-power-of-volcanoes-with-jim-shepard/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">96 Dracula, Lolita, and the Power of Volcanoes (with Jim Shepard)</span></a>Author Jim Shepard joins the podcast to discuss everything from the humor of Christopher Guest and S.J. Perelman to the poetic philosophy of Robert Frost and F.W. Murnau’s classic film, Nosferatu. He and host Jacke Wilson flutter around Nabokov’s Lolita, sink their teeth into Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and descend into the world of volcanoes in Krakatua 1883, where they explore how an author discovers emotional truths in unexpected places. Other works and artists discussed include Robert Frost, Howard Nemerov, James Thurber, Robert Stone, Anne Carson, Love at First Bite, and the deadpan style of Pat Paulsen.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Author Jim Shepard joins the podcast to discuss everything from the humor of Christopher Guest and S.J. Perelman to the poetic philosophy of Robert Frost and F.W. Murnau’s classic film, Nosferatu. He and host Jacke Wilson flutter around Nabokov’s Lolit...
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Sweeter Vermouth” and “Spy Glass” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.580 95 The Runaway Poets – The Triumphant Love Story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browninghttp://historyofliterature.com/95-the-runaway-poets-the-triumphant-love-story-of-elizabeth-barrett-browning-and-robert-browning/
Mon, 29 May 2017 04:02:15 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=574http://historyofliterature.com/95-the-runaway-poets-the-triumphant-love-story-of-elizabeth-barrett-browning-and-robert-browning/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/95-the-runaway-poets-the-triumphant-love-story-of-elizabeth-barrett-browning-and-robert-browning/feed/0Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) was one of the most prolific and accomplished poets of the Victorian age, an inspiration to Emily Dickensen, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. And yet, her life was full of cloistered misery, as her father insisted that she should never marry. And then, the clouds lifted, and a letter … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/95-the-runaway-poets-the-triumphant-love-story-of-elizabeth-barrett-browning-and-robert-browning/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">95 The Runaway Poets – The Triumphant Love Story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning</span></a>Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) was one of the most prolific and accomplished poets of the Victorian age, an inspiration to Emily Dickensen, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. And yet, her life was full of cloistered misery, as her father insisted that she should never marry. And then, the clouds lifted, and a letter arrived. It was from the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), admiring her from afar, declaring his love. How did these two poets find each other? What kind of life did they share afterwards? And what dark secrets had led to her father’s restrictions…and how might that have affected his daughter’s poetry? Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at the story of the Brownings.

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]]>Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) was one of the most prolific and accomplished poets of the Victorian age, an inspiration to Emily Dickensen, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. And yet, her life was full of cloistered misery,
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Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” and “Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.Jacke Wilson58:4757494 Smoke, Dusk, and Fire – The Jean Toomer Storyhttp://historyofliterature.com/94-smoke-dusk-and-fire-the-jean-toomer-story/
Mon, 22 May 2017 04:05:19 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=570http://historyofliterature.com/94-smoke-dusk-and-fire-the-jean-toomer-story/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/94-smoke-dusk-and-fire-the-jean-toomer-story/feed/0Jean Toomer (1894-1967) was born into a prominent black family in Washington, D.C., but it wasn’t until he returned to the land of agrarian Georgia that he was inspired to write his masterpiece Cane (1923), a towering achievement that went on to influence the writers of the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation. While Toomer’s … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/94-smoke-dusk-and-fire-the-jean-toomer-story/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">94 Smoke, Dusk, and Fire – The Jean Toomer Story</span></a>Jean Toomer (1894-1967) was born into a prominent black family in Washington, D.C., but it wasn’t until he returned to the land of agrarian Georgia that he was inspired to write his masterpiece Cane (1923), a towering achievement that went on to influence the writers of the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation. While Toomer’s own life presents a portrait of a man searching for an identity in a world of too-rigid categorization, the confident and self-assured Cane stands for a universality that defies categorization and bridges American divisions. In this episode, host Jacke Wilson reflects upon his own search for identity in small-town Wisconsin, which coincidentally was one of the places where Jean Toomer landed as well.

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]]>Jean Toomer (1894-1967) was born into a prominent black family in Washington, D.C., but it wasn’t until he returned to the land of agrarian Georgia that he was inspired to write his masterpiece Cane (1923),
FREE GIFT!
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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“I Been ‘Buked” (trad. Negro Spiritual), performed by the Georgia Spiritual Ensemble.
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).570 93 Robert Frost Finds a Friendhttp://historyofliterature.com/93-robert-frost-finds-a-friend/
Tue, 16 May 2017 04:03:52 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=565http://historyofliterature.com/93-robert-frost-finds-a-friend/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/93-robert-frost-finds-a-friend/feed/0It’s a curious but compelling story: it starts in the years just before World War I, when struggling poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) hastily packed up his family and moved to London in search of a friend. Although Frost’s efforts to ingratiate himself with W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound fizzled, he soon found a man, critic Edward Thomas … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/93-robert-frost-finds-a-friend/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">93 Robert Frost Finds a Friend</span></a>It’s a curious but compelling story: it starts in the years just before World War I, when struggling poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) hastily packed up his family and moved to London in search of a friend. Although Frost’s efforts to ingratiate himself with W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound fizzled, he soon found a man, critic Edward Thomas (1878-1917), who championed Frost’s poetry and became one of Frost’s best friends. Frost in turn inspired Thomas to write poetry as well – until something happened on one of their walks in the woods that would forever change them both. Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College, who recounts the story of Frost and Thomas: their friendship, their falling out, and how one of Frost’s (and America’s) most famous poems, “The Road Not Taken,” inspired by Frost’s views of Thomas, has been widely misunderstood by generations of readers.

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]]>It’s a curious but compelling story: it starts in the years just before World War I, when struggling poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) hastily packed up his family and moved to London in search of a friend. Although Frost’s efforts to ingratiate himself wi...
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Sweeter Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.565 92 The Books of Our Liveshttp://historyofliterature.com/92-books-of-our-lives/
Fri, 12 May 2017 04:02:08 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=561http://historyofliterature.com/92-books-of-our-lives/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/92-books-of-our-lives/feed/0“In the middle of life’s journey,” wrote Dante Alighieri, “I found myself in a selva oscura.” Host Jacke Wilson and frequent guest Mike Palindrome take stock of their own selva oscura in a particularly literary way: What books have they read? What books have been the most important to them? What do they expect to … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/92-books-of-our-lives/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">92 The Books of Our Lives</span></a>“In the middle of life’s journey,” wrote Dante Alighieri, “I found myself in a selva oscura.” Host Jacke Wilson and frequent guest Mike Palindrome take stock of their own selva oscura in a particularly literary way: What books have they read? What books have been the most important to them? What do they expect to come next? It’s a celebration of reading – and friendship – on this episode of The History of Literature Podcast.

]]>“In the middle of life’s journey,” wrote Dante Alighieri, “I found myself in a selva oscura.” Host Jacke Wilson and frequent guest Mike Palindrome take stock of their own selva oscura in a particularly literary way: What books have they read?
Authors discussed include: John D. Fitzgerald, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, Elena Ferrante, Alice Munro, Lorrie Moore, Jay McInerney, Rene Descartes, James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, Graham Greene, Patrick O’Brian, Marcel Proust, Javier Marias, Haruki Murakami, Paul Celan, and Leo Tolstoy.
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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).561 91 In Which John Donne Decides to Write a Poem About a Fleahttp://historyofliterature.com/91-in-which-john-donne-decides-to-write-a-poem-about-a-flea/
Fri, 05 May 2017 04:05:26 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=556http://historyofliterature.com/91-in-which-john-donne-decides-to-write-a-poem-about-a-flea/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/91-in-which-john-donne-decides-to-write-a-poem-about-a-flea/feed/0John Donne (1572-1631) may have been the most wildly inventive poet who ever lived. But that doesn’t mean he was the most successful. Dr. Johnson, writing a hundred years later, objected to Donne and the other Metaphysical Poets for the way in which they “yoked together with violence” heterogenous ideas. T.S. Eliot found something much … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/91-in-which-john-donne-decides-to-write-a-poem-about-a-flea/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">91 In Which John Donne Decides to Write a Poem About a Flea</span></a>John Donne (1572-1631) may have been the most wildly inventive poet who ever lived. But that doesn’t mean he was the most successful. Dr. Johnson, writing a hundred years later, objected to Donne and the other Metaphysical Poets for the way in which they “yoked together with violence” heterogenous ideas. T.S. Eliot found something much richer in the poems, but even his analysis leaves us with the central burning question: can a poem about a flea be any good? Jacke Wilson considers the question.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>John Donne (1572-1631) may have been the most wildly inventive poet who ever lived. But that doesn’t mean he was the most successful. Dr. Johnson, writing a hundred years later, objected to Donne and the other Metaphysical Poets for the way in which th...
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Dance Macabre,” “Hero Theme,” and “NewsSting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.556 90 Mark Twain’s Final Requesthttp://historyofliterature.com/90-mark-twains-final-request/
Fri, 28 Apr 2017 04:03:44 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=549http://historyofliterature.com/90-mark-twains-final-request/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/90-mark-twains-final-request/feed/0In 1910, the American author Mark Twain took to his bed in his Connecticut home. Weakened by disease and no longer able to write, the legendary humorist (and author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), made a final request. What was the request? And what does it tell us about the life and career of a great … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/90-mark-twains-final-request/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">90 Mark Twain’s Final Request</span></a>In 1910, the American author Mark Twain took to his bed in his Connecticut home. Weakened by disease and no longer able to write, the legendary humorist (and author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), made a final request. What was the request? And what does it tell us about the life and career of a great writer? Host Jacke Wilson explores the mystery.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In 1910, the American author Mark Twain took to his bed in his Connecticut home. Weakened by disease and no longer able to write, the legendary humorist (and author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), made a final request. What was the request?
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Darxieland” and “Tenebrous Brothers Carnival – Act Two” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.549 89 Primo Levihttp://historyofliterature.com/89-primo-levi/
Fri, 21 Apr 2017 04:01:12 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=544http://historyofliterature.com/89-primo-levi/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/89-primo-levi/feed/0Primo Levi (1919-1987) lived quietly and wrote with restraint. An Italian Jewish writer, professional chemist, and Holocaust survivor, he was, said Italo Calvino, “one of the most important and gifted writers of our time.” Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at his life, his mysterious death, and his most important works, including If This Is … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/89-primo-levi/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">89 Primo Levi</span></a>Primo Levi (1919-1987) lived quietly and wrote with restraint. An Italian Jewish writer, professional chemist, and Holocaust survivor, he was, said Italo Calvino, “one of the most important and gifted writers of our time.” Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at his life, his mysterious death, and his most important works, including If This Is a Man (US title: Survival in Auschwitz) and The Periodic Table, named by the Royal Institution of Great Britain as the greatest science book ever written.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Primo Levi (1919-1987) lived quietly and wrote with restraint. An Italian Jewish writer, professional chemist, and Holocaust survivor, he was, said Italo Calvino, “one of the most important and gifted writers of our time.
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.544 88 The Harlem Renaissancehttp://historyofliterature.com/88-the-harlem-renaissance/
Fri, 14 Apr 2017 04:01:32 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=538http://historyofliterature.com/88-the-harlem-renaissance/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/88-the-harlem-renaissance/feed/0The Harlem Renaissance, the great flowering of African American arts and culture in the early twentieth century, is hard to define and easy to admire. Coupled with the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of Southern black workers moved to the rapidly industrializing cities of the North, the Harlem Renaissance was a time of … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/88-the-harlem-renaissance/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">88 The Harlem Renaissance</span></a>The Harlem Renaissance, the great flowering of African American arts and culture in the early twentieth century, is hard to define and easy to admire. Coupled with the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of Southern black workers moved to the rapidly industrializing cities of the North, the Harlem Renaissance was a time of great artistic expression, as musicians, visual artists, and writers forged a new consciousness. The works they produced reflected a spirit of change, progress, and optimism – but underlying the excitement were also a sense of struggle; reflective themes of nostalgia, guilt, and regret; and a clear-eyed view of racial relations in American culture. Host Jacke Wilson looks at the works of Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, and the many others who turned Harlem into the center of a worldwide movement.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

“I’m Just Wild About Harry” from Shuffle Along (1921) (feat. Thelma Carpenter)

]]>The Harlem Renaissance, the great flowering of African American arts and culture in the early twentieth century, is hard to define and easy to admire. Coupled with the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of Southern black workers moved to t...
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“The Mooche” and “Creole Love Call” by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (feat. Adelaide Hall)
“Young Woman’s Blues” by Bessie Smith
“I’m Just Wild About Harry” from Shuffle Along (1921) (feat. Thelma Carpenter)Jacke Wilson51:4153887 Man in Love: The Passions of D.H. Lawrencehttp://historyofliterature.com/87-man-in-love-the-passions-of-d-h-lawrence/
Fri, 07 Apr 2017 04:05:13 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=533http://historyofliterature.com/87-man-in-love-the-passions-of-d-h-lawrence/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/87-man-in-love-the-passions-of-d-h-lawrence/feed/0The Edwardian novelist D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) lived and wrote with the fury of a thousand suns. His novels Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and The Rainbow are commonly regarded as some of the greatest novels in literature – and for Lawrence, who also wrote eight other novels, ten collections of short … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/87-man-in-love-the-passions-of-d-h-lawrence/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">87 Man in Love: The Passions of D.H. Lawrence</span></a>The Edwardian novelist D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) lived and wrote with the fury of a thousand suns. His novels Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and The Rainbow are commonly regarded as some of the greatest novels in literature – and for Lawrence, who also wrote eight other novels, ten collections of short stories, and 800 poems, they were only a fraction of his volcanic outpouring of words and ideas. How did this son of a barely literate coal miner end up one of the most prolific and sensational writers ever to have lived? What fueled his passions? How did he channel his highly imaginative world views into his novels? And what are we to make of him today? Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at the man who called himself a “savage pilgrim.”

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

“Piano Between” and “Drums from the Deep” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

]]>The Edwardian novelist D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) lived and wrote with the fury of a thousand suns. His novels Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and The Rainbow are commonly regarded as some of the greatest novels in literature – ...
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature postcard as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Piano Between” and “Drums from the Deep” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.533 86 Don Juan in Literature (aka The Case of the Red-Hot Lover)http://historyofliterature.com/86-don-juan-in-literature-aka-the-case-of-the-red-hot-lover/
Sun, 02 Apr 2017 04:03:13 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=527http://historyofliterature.com/86-don-juan-in-literature-aka-the-case-of-the-red-hot-lover/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/86-don-juan-in-literature-aka-the-case-of-the-red-hot-lover/feed/0From his earliest days as a popular legend, through many appearances in drama and poetry and fiction and film, the sexual conquistador Don Juan has been the vehicle for authors and artists to wrestle with themes like sexual desire, guilt, honor, gender relations, and the psychology of an unrepentant sinner. Early versions of Don Juan condemned … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/86-don-juan-in-literature-aka-the-case-of-the-red-hot-lover/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">86 Don Juan in Literature (aka The Case of the Red-Hot Lover)</span></a>From his earliest days as a popular legend, through many appearances in drama and poetry and fiction and film, the sexual conquistador Don Juan has been the vehicle for authors and artists to wrestle with themes like sexual desire, guilt, honor, gender relations, and the psychology of an unrepentant sinner. Early versions of Don Juan condemned this profligate lover to hell, but as society’s views of morality evolved, so too did Don Juan, with some fascinating results. Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at the many faces of Don Juan, from the character’s earliest stage appearance in 1630 to the recent Jersey Boy incarnation in the film version Don Jon (2013), with stops along the way for Moliere, Mozart, Goldoni, George Bernard Shaw, Sam Malone from Cheers – and of course, the great “satiric epic” Don Juan, written by the “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Lord Byron.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>From his earliest days as a popular legend, through many appearances in drama and poetry and fiction and film, the sexual conquistador Don Juan has been the vehicle for authors and artists to wrestle with themes like sexual desire, guilt, honor,
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.527 85 Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudicehttp://historyofliterature.com/85-jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice/
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 11:20:12 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=522http://historyofliterature.com/85-jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/85-jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice/feed/0In 1813, a young author named Jane Austen built on the success of her popular novel Sense and Sensibility with a new novel about the emotional life of an appealing protagonist named Elizabeth Bennet, who overcomes her mistaken first impressions and finds true love with the enigmatic and ultimately appealing Mr. Darcy. The novel was called Pride and Prejudice, and … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/85-jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">85 Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice</span></a>In 1813, a young author named Jane Austen built on the success of her popular novel Sense and Sensibility with a new novel about the emotional life of an appealing protagonist named Elizabeth Bennet, who overcomes her mistaken first impressions and finds true love with the enigmatic and ultimately appealing Mr. Darcy. The novel was called Pride and Prejudice, and for more than 200 years it’s been celebrated as one of the great pinnacles in the history of novels – and indeed, in all of literature. What was Jane Austen’s background, and how did she come to write such a marvelous novel? What accounts for the book’s success? And what lessons can we take from it today? Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at one of the most beloved works in literary history – and tells a story of his own youthful efforts to avoid being part of someone else’s Austen-influenced plot.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In 1813, a young author named Jane Austen built on the success of her popular novel Sense and Sensibility with a new novel about the emotional life of an appealing protagonist named Elizabeth Bennet, who overcomes her mistaken first impressions and fin...
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Danse Macabre – Xylophone Version” and “Samba Sting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.522 84 The Trials of Oscar Wildehttp://historyofliterature.com/84-the-trials-of-oscar-wilde/
Fri, 17 Mar 2017 04:02:32 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=515http://historyofliterature.com/84-the-trials-of-oscar-wilde/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/84-the-trials-of-oscar-wilde/feed/0In February of 1895, the playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) continued an astonishing run of theatrical success with the opening of his artistic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest. Three months later, he was imprisoned on charges of “gross indecency.” In this special St. Patrick’s Day episode, host Jacke Wilson takes a look at the career of Oscar … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/84-the-trials-of-oscar-wilde/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">84 The Trials of Oscar Wilde</span></a>In February of 1895, the playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) continued an astonishing run of theatrical success with the opening of his artistic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest. Three months later, he was imprisoned on charges of “gross indecency.” In this special St. Patrick’s Day episode, host Jacke Wilson takes a look at the career of Oscar Wilde, Irish boy wonder, and the forces that led to his tragic demise.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In February of 1895, the playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) continued an astonishing run of theatrical success with the opening of his artistic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest. Three months later,
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“NewsSting” and “Modern Piano Epsilon – The Small” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.Jacke Wilson70:1751583 Overrated! Top 10 Books You Don’t Need to Readhttp://historyofliterature.com/83-overrated-top-10-books-you-dont-need-to-read/
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 05:05:23 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=512http://historyofliterature.com/83-overrated-top-10-books-you-dont-need-to-read/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/83-overrated-top-10-books-you-dont-need-to-read/feed/0Life is short, and books are many. How many great books have you read? How many more have you NOT read? How to choose? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of overrated classics and the pleasures of shortening one’s list of must-reads. FREE GIFT! Write a review on … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/83-overrated-top-10-books-you-dont-need-to-read/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">83 Overrated! Top 10 Books You Don’t Need to Read</span></a>Life is short, and books are many. How many great books have you read? How many more have you NOT read? How to choose? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of overrated classics and the pleasures of shortening one’s list of must-reads.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Life is short, and books are many. How many great books have you read? How many more have you NOT read? How to choose? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of overrated classics and the pleasures of...
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Sweet Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.512 82 Robinson Crusoehttp://historyofliterature.com/82-robinson-crusoe/
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 05:04:30 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=507http://historyofliterature.com/82-robinson-crusoe/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/82-robinson-crusoe/feed/0In 1719, a prolific author and political agitator named Daniel Defoe published a long-form narrative about a shipwrecked sailor stranded on a desert island, who lives in solitude for 27 years before famously seeing a human footprint on the sand. Often viewed as the first novel written in English, Robinson Crusoe was a smash hit in its day and has been … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/82-robinson-crusoe/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">82 Robinson Crusoe</span></a>In 1719, a prolific author and political agitator named Daniel Defoe published a long-form narrative about a shipwrecked sailor stranded on a desert island, who lives in solitude for 27 years before famously seeing a human footprint on the sand. Often viewed as the first novel written in English, Robinson Crusoe was a smash hit in its day and has been popular ever since. Who was Daniel Defoe, and how did he go from being the owner of a brick-and-tile factory to being the author of 500 works (and a paid spy)? How does his classic adventure story forge a path for novels and novel writing? How did this work become so popular – and why did its protagonist, a man coming to grips with both solitude and the absence of society, become a modern literary myth? And finally, we take a look at the story of Alexander Selkirk, the real-life survivor who may have served as the inspiration for Defoe’s classic character.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In 1719, a prolific author and political agitator named Daniel Defoe published a long-form narrative about a shipwrecked sailor stranded on a desert island, who lives in solitude for 27 years before famously seeing a human footprint on the sand.
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“NewsSting” and “Secret of Tiki Island” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

507 81 Faust (aka The Devil Went Down to Germany)http://historyofliterature.com/81-faust/
Fri, 24 Feb 2017 05:02:14 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=492http://historyofliterature.com/81-faust/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/81-faust/feed/0Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d sell your soul to get it? Youth? Wealth? Sex? Power? Knowledge? We call it making a deal with the devil, or in more literary terms, a Faustian bargain. But who was Faust? How did his tale first get told? How was his legend advanced, and what great … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/81-faust/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">81 Faust (aka The Devil Went Down to Germany)</span></a>Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d sell your soul to get it? Youth? Wealth? Sex? Power? Knowledge? We call it making a deal with the devil, or in more literary terms, a Faustian bargain. But who was Faust? How did his tale first get told? How was his legend advanced, and what great works did he inspire? In this special episode of The History of Literature, we look at the historical Faust and dig into the literary myth of Faustian bargains, from Icarus and the Temptations of Christ, through Christopher Marlowe and Goethe, all the way to bluesman Robert Johnson and his legendary trip to the Crossroads.

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

“NewsSting” and “Dragon and Toast” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

]]>Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d sell your soul to get it? Youth? Wealth? Sex? Power? Knowledge? We call it making a deal with the devil, or in more literary terms, a Faustian bargain. But who was Faust? How did his tale first get told?
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Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson
“NewsSting” and “Dragon and Toast” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.492 80 Power Play! Shakespeare’s Henry Vhttp://historyofliterature.com/80-power-play-shakespeares-henry-v/
Fri, 17 Feb 2017 05:03:13 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=487http://historyofliterature.com/80-power-play-shakespeares-henry-v/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/80-power-play-shakespeares-henry-v/feed/1Who rules us and why? What does Shakespeare’s Henry V (c. 1599) tell us about the character of a leader? What does it tell us about the character of the people governed by such a man? Host Jacke Wilson jumps from kings to presidents, from the battlefields of France in the early fifteenth century, to … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/80-power-play-shakespeares-henry-v/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">80 Power Play! Shakespeare’s Henry V</span></a>Who rules us and why? What does Shakespeare’s Henry V (c. 1599) tell us about the character of a leader? What does it tell us about the character of the people governed by such a man? Host Jacke Wilson jumps from kings to presidents, from the battlefields of France in the early fifteenth century, to the Elizabethan stage in the early seventeenth century, to the Lincoln Memorial and what one of President Richard M. Nixon’s closest aides called “the weirdest day so far.”

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Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Who rules us and why? What does Shakespeare’s Henry V (c. 1599) tell us about the character of a leader? What does it tell us about the character of the people governed by such a man? Host Jacke Wilson jumps from kings to presidents,
FREE GIFT!
Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last!
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“NewsSting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.Jacke Wilson65:2748779 Music That Melts the Stars – Madame Bovary by Gustave Flauberthttp://historyofliterature.com/79-music-that-melts-the-stars-madame-bovary-by-gustave-flaubert/
Fri, 10 Feb 2017 05:03:52 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=481http://historyofliterature.com/79-music-that-melts-the-stars-madame-bovary-by-gustave-flaubert/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/79-music-that-melts-the-stars-madame-bovary-by-gustave-flaubert/feed/0In 1851, a 30-year-old Frenchman named Gustave Flaubert set out to write a novel about a discontented housewife in a style that would melt the stars. After five years of agonizing labor, his book Madame Bovary (1856) changed the world of literature forever. How did Madame Bovary influence authors as different as Ernest Hemingway and Vladimir … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/79-music-that-melts-the-stars-madame-bovary-by-gustave-flaubert/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">79 Music That Melts the Stars – Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert</span></a>In 1851, a 30-year-old Frenchman named Gustave Flaubert set out to write a novel about a discontented housewife in a style that would melt the stars. After five years of agonizing labor, his book Madame Bovary (1856) changed the world of literature forever. How did Madame Bovary influence authors as different as Ernest Hemingway and Vladimir Nabokov? Host Jacke Wilson takes a special Valentine’s Day look at Flaubert’s innovative novelistic style and his wonderfully compelling heroine, the woman stuck in the provinces who “wanted to die, but who also wanted to live in Paris.”

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In 1851, a 30-year-old Frenchman named Gustave Flaubert set out to write a novel about a discontented housewife in a style that would melt the stars. After five years of agonizing labor, his book Madame Bovary (1856) changed the world of literature for...
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literature SC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).Jacke Wilson46:5448178 Jane Eyre, The Good Soldier, Giovanni’s Room (with Margot Livesey)http://historyofliterature.com/78-jane-eyre-the-good-soldier-giovannis-room-with-margot-livesey/
Fri, 03 Feb 2017 05:06:14 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=473http://historyofliterature.com/78-jane-eyre-the-good-soldier-giovannis-room-with-margot-livesey/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/78-jane-eyre-the-good-soldier-giovannis-room-with-margot-livesey/feed/0Writing about the Scottish-born novelist Margot Livesey, the author Alice Sebold remarked, “Every novel of Margot Livesey’s is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery.” How has Margot Livesey managed to create this suspense in novel after novel, including in contemporary classics such as The Flight … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/78-jane-eyre-the-good-soldier-giovannis-room-with-margot-livesey/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">78 Jane Eyre, The Good Soldier, Giovanni’s Room (with Margot Livesey)</span></a>Writing about the Scottish-born novelist Margot Livesey, the author Alice Sebold remarked, “Every novel of Margot Livesey’s is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery.”

How has Margot Livesey managed to create this suspense in novel after novel, including in contemporary classics such as The Flight of Gemma Hardy, The House on Fortune Street, and her most recent work, Mercury? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by the author for a conversation about her readerly passions and writerly inspirations, including Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Writing about the Scottish-born novelist Margot Livesey, the author Alice Sebold remarked, “Every novel of Margot Livesey’s is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery.
How has Margot Livesey managed to create this suspense in novel after novel, including in contemporary classics such as The Flight of Gemma Hardy, The House on Fortune Street, and her most recent work, Mercury? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by the author for a conversation about her readerly passions and writerly inspirations, including Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literature SC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Danse Macabre – Violin Hook” and “Lift Motif” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.473 77 Top 10 Literary Citieshttp://historyofliterature.com/77-top-10-literary-cities/
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 05:06:49 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=469http://historyofliterature.com/77-top-10-literary-cities/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/77-top-10-literary-cities/feed/0What makes a city a great literary city? Having a tradition of famous authors? A culture of bookstores and cafes and publishing houses and universities? Inspiring great books? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, for a discussion of the cities where literature finds itself most at home – including … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/77-top-10-literary-cities/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">77 Top 10 Literary Cities</span></a>What makes a city a great literary city? Having a tradition of famous authors? A culture of bookstores and cafes and publishing houses and universities? Inspiring great books? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, for a discussion of the cities where literature finds itself most at home – including their choices for the world’s ten greatest literary cities.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>What makes a city a great literary city? Having a tradition of famous authors? A culture of bookstores and cafes and publishing houses and universities? Inspiring great books? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome,
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
On Twitter, you can follow Jacke Wilson at his handle @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literature SC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“The Secret of Tiki Island” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.469 76 Darkness and the Power of Literature – The Forbidden Stories of North Korea (with Terry Hong)http://historyofliterature.com/76-darkness-and-the-power-of-literature-the-case-of-north-korea-with-terry-hong/
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 05:11:05 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=461http://historyofliterature.com/76-darkness-and-the-power-of-literature-the-case-of-north-korea-with-terry-hong/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/76-darkness-and-the-power-of-literature-the-case-of-north-korea-with-terry-hong/feed/0For 70 years, the people of North Korea have lived through a totalitarian nightmare – and those of us in the outside world have had little access to their experience. How have generations of oppression and terror affected the psychology of everyday people? How do they feel about their situation? What are their hopes? What are … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/76-darkness-and-the-power-of-literature-the-case-of-north-korea-with-terry-hong/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">76 Darkness and the Power of Literature – The Forbidden Stories of North Korea (with Terry Hong)</span></a>For 70 years, the people of North Korea have lived through a totalitarian nightmare – and those of us in the outside world have had little access to their experience. How have generations of oppression and terror affected the psychology of everyday people? How do they feel about their situation? What are their hopes? What are their dreams? How do they think, and how do they live? Like so much else about North Korea, these questions were shrouded in darkness…until now. Terry Hong, reader extraordinaire and the curator of the website BookDragon, joins us to talk about an astonishing new development: the publication of short stories by North Korea’s first dissident writer.

461 75 The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasakihttp://historyofliterature.com/75-the-tale-of-genji-by-lady-murasaki/
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 05:04:12 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=456http://historyofliterature.com/75-the-tale-of-genji-by-lady-murasaki/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/75-the-tale-of-genji-by-lady-murasaki/feed/0With a strong claim to be the first novel in history, the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji (ca. 1001-1012), by Murasaki Shikibu, or Lady Murasaki, is one of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces. But who was Lady Murasaki, and what compelled her to write this story of an idealized prince and his many lovers? How … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/75-the-tale-of-genji-by-lady-murasaki/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">75 The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki</span></a>With a strong claim to be the first novel in history, the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji (ca. 1001-1012), by Murasaki Shikibu, or Lady Murasaki, is one of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces. But who was Lady Murasaki, and what compelled her to write this story of an idealized prince and his many lovers? How innovative was she? And do the intrigues of the imperial Japanese courts from a thousand years ago still have the power to fascinate, entertain, and instruct us today?

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>With a strong claim to be the first novel in history, the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji (ca. 1001-1012), by Murasaki Shikibu, or Lady Murasaki, is one of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces. But who was Lady Murasaki,
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
On Twitter, you can follow Jacke Wilson at his handle @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literature SC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Ritual” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0456 74 Great First Chapters (with Vu Tran)http://historyofliterature.com/74-great-first-chapters-vu-tran/
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:04:31 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=451http://historyofliterature.com/74-great-first-chapters-vu-tran/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/74-great-first-chapters-vu-tran/feed/0It’s a new year! A time for fresh beginnings! And on the History of Literature Podcast, it’s a time to celebrate beginnings. Vu Tran, author of the novel Dragonfish and a professor of creative writing at the University of Chicago, joins us to discuss ten great first chapters – how they work, how they affect the … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/74-great-first-chapters-vu-tran/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">74 Great First Chapters (with Vu Tran)</span></a>It’s a new year! A time for fresh beginnings! And on the History of Literature Podcast, it’s a time to celebrate beginnings. Vu Tran, author of the novel Dragonfish and a professor of creative writing at the University of Chicago, joins us to discuss ten great first chapters – how they work, how they affect the reader, and how they fulfill their author’s intentions.

451 73 Javier Marias and the Philosophical Novelhttp://historyofliterature.com/73-javier-marias-philosophical-novel/
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 05:02:18 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=444http://historyofliterature.com/73-javier-marias-philosophical-novel/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/73-javier-marias-philosophical-novel/feed/0The Spanish novelist Javier Marías (b. 1951) has led a fascinating life, from his childhood as the son of a philosopher to his role as the king of a Caribbean island that has been ruled by a succession of writers. Marías’s philosophical novels have been translated into 42 languages and celebrated throughout Europe – and yet, as the … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/73-javier-marias-philosophical-novel/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">73 Javier Marias and the Philosophical Novel</span></a>The Spanish novelist Javier Marías (b. 1951) has led a fascinating life, from his childhood as the son of a philosopher to his role as the king of a Caribbean island that has been ruled by a succession of writers. Marías’s philosophical novels have been translated into 42 languages and celebrated throughout Europe – and yet, as the New York Times Book Review noted, he remains largely unknown in America. Why is that? And what are Americans missing? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club and an ardent devotee of Javier Marías, to discuss Marías and his novel A Heart So White.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>The Spanish novelist Javier Marías (b. 1951) has led a fascinating life, from his childhood as the son of a philosopher to his role as the king of a Caribbean island that has been ruled by a succession of writers.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
On Twitter, you can follow Jacke Wilson at his handle @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literature SC.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Sweeter Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Jacke Wilson49:0644472 The Best Christmas Stories in Literaturehttp://historyofliterature.com/72-top-10-literary-christmas-stories/
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:07:00 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=433http://historyofliterature.com/72-top-10-literary-christmas-stories/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/72-top-10-literary-christmas-stories/feed/0Sure, we all know the story of Frosty and Rudolph… but what about literary Christmas stories? How have great authors treated (or mistreated) this celebrated holiday? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at the ten best Christmas stories in literature. Authors discussed include Dostoevsky, Dickens, Willa Cather, Mark … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/72-top-10-literary-christmas-stories/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">72 The Best Christmas Stories in Literature</span></a>Sure, we all know the story of Frosty and Rudolph… but what about literary Christmas stories? How have great authors treated (or mistreated) this celebrated holiday? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at the ten best Christmas stories in literature. Authors discussed include Dostoevsky, Dickens, Willa Cather, Mark Twain, Ntozake Shange, Roderick Thorpe, Dr. Seuss, Thomas Mann, James Joyce, Hans Christian Andersen, Chekhov, O. Henry, and more. PLUS a special holiday tribute to Gar, the worst producer in the history of podcasting.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Sure, we all know the story of Frosty and Rudolph… but what about literary Christmas stories? How have great authors treated (or mistreated) this celebrated holiday? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club,
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Follow Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @writerjacke (Jacke) and @literatureSC (Mike).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
(Also featuring cameo appearances by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sir Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey, Sir Elton John, Jimmy Stewart, and Frank Sinatra.)433 71 Did Bob Dylan Deserve the Nobel Prize?http://historyofliterature.com/71-bob-dylan-deserve-nobel-prize/
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 05:05:47 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=428http://historyofliterature.com/71-bob-dylan-deserve-nobel-prize/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/71-bob-dylan-deserve-nobel-prize/feed/0In 1959, a young singer-songwriter named Bob Zimmerman changed his name. As Bob Dylan, he then went on to change the world. After being lauded for more than 50 years for his songs and lyrics, this icon of the Sixties seemingly had achieved everything possible… and then the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Prize for … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/71-bob-dylan-deserve-nobel-prize/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">71 Did Bob Dylan Deserve the Nobel Prize?</span></a>In 1959, a young singer-songwriter named Bob Zimmerman changed his name. As Bob Dylan, he then went on to change the world. After being lauded for more than 50 years for his songs and lyrics, this icon of the Sixties seemingly had achieved everything possible… and then the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature. But does a writer of song lyrics deserve to be ranked among the world’s finest poets and novelists? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, for a freewheelin’ conversation about the legendary Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan Songs:

“Tangled Up in Blue” (performed by K.T. Tunstall); “Lay Lady Lay”; “My Back Pages” (performed by the Byrds); “Every Grain of Sand” (performed by Emmylou Harris)

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>In 1959, a young singer-songwriter named Bob Zimmerman changed his name. As Bob Dylan, he then went on to change the world. After being lauded for more than 50 years for his songs and lyrics, this icon of the Sixties seemingly had achieved everything p...
Bob Dylan Songs:
“Tangled Up in Blue” (performed by K.T. Tunstall); “Lay Lady Lay”; “My Back Pages” (performed by the Byrds); “Every Grain of Sand” (performed by Emmylou Harris)
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).428 70 Shakespeare’s Julius Caesarhttp://historyofliterature.com/70-shakespeares-julius-caesar/
Mon, 05 Dec 2016 05:06:53 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=422http://historyofliterature.com/70-shakespeares-julius-caesar/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/70-shakespeares-julius-caesar/feed/0Just after World War II, the poet and critic W.H. Auden said that Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (ca. 1959) is “of great relevance to our time, though it is gloomier, because it is about a society that is doomed. We are not doomed, but in such immense danger that the relevance is great. [Rome] was a society … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/70-shakespeares-julius-caesar/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">70 Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar</span></a>Just after World War II, the poet and critic W.H. Auden said that Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (ca. 1959) is “of great relevance to our time, though it is gloomier, because it is about a society that is doomed. We are not doomed, but in such immense danger that the relevance is great. [Rome] was a society not doomed by the evil passions of selfish individuals…but by an intellectual and spiritual failure of nerve that made the society incapable of coping with its situation.” Why is Julius Caesar so continually important to those living in a liberal democracy? What does it tell us about the relationship of an individual to society and the state? And as the citizens of a republic lose their faith in institutions, how do we reconcile the noble ambition of a Caesar with the high-minded (but bloody) principles of the assassin Brutus?

In this episode, host Jacke Wilson takes a look at Shakespeare’s play, the portrayals of Brutus (James Mason) and Mark Antony (Marlon Brando) in the 1953 film, the fraught morality of assassination, the surprising links between John Wilkes Booth and the play, and an essay from The Journal of Democracy describing the declining faith in liberal democracies in 2016.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Just after World War II, the poet and critic W.H. Auden said that Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (ca. 1959) is “of great relevance to our time, though it is gloomier, because it is about a society that is doomed. We are not doomed,
In this episode, host Jacke Wilson takes a look at Shakespeare’s play, the portrayals of Brutus (James Mason) and Mark Antony (Marlon Brando) in the 1953 film, the fraught morality of assassination, the surprising links between John Wilkes Booth and the play, and an essay from The Journal of Democracy describing the declining faith in liberal democracies in 2016.
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).422 69 Virginia Woolf and Her Enemies (with Professor Andrea Zemgulys) / Children’s Bookshttp://historyofliterature.com/69-virginia-woolf-enemies-professor-andrea-zemgulys-childrens-books/
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 05:05:12 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=418http://historyofliterature.com/69-virginia-woolf-enemies-professor-andrea-zemgulys-childrens-books/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/69-virginia-woolf-enemies-professor-andrea-zemgulys-childrens-books/feed/3Early in her career, novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) wrote a critical essay in which she set forth her views of what fiction can and should do. The essay was called “Modern Fiction” (1919), and it has served critics and readers as a guide to Modernism (and Woolf) ever since. But while it’s easy to follow her … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/69-virginia-woolf-enemies-professor-andrea-zemgulys-childrens-books/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">69 Virginia Woolf and Her Enemies (with Professor Andrea Zemgulys) / Children’s Books</span></a>Early in her career, novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) wrote a critical essay in which she set forth her views of what fiction can and should do. The essay was called “Modern Fiction” (1919), and it has served critics and readers as a guide to Modernism (and Woolf) ever since. But while it’s easy to follow her arguments about the authors who became giants in the world of literature such as Joyce and Chekhov, it’s less easy to understand her statements about the authors she criticized, contemporary best sellers H.G. Wells, Arnold Bennett, and John Galsworthy. What was behind her savage criticism of these three? What does her animosity tell us about Woolf’s views of fiction? Professor Andrea Zemgulys of the University of Michigan joins Jacke to help him figure this out. Then a pair of children’s book experts (Jacke Wilson Jr. and Jacke Wilson Jr. Jr.) join Jacke in the studio to discuss buying holiday books for children.

Show Notes:

Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Early in her career, novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) wrote a critical essay in which she set forth her views of what fiction can and should do. The essay was called “Modern Fiction” (1919), and it has served critics and readers as a guide to Modern...
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Quirky Dog,” “Sweeter Vermouth, and “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

]]>It’s the Thanksgiving episode! Jacke and Mike respond to listener feedback and discuss some literary things to thankful for. Authors discussed include Edith Wharton, John Fowles, Ernest Hemingway, Vu Tran, Lydia Davis, Gary Snyder, Walt Whitman,
Show Notes:
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Darxieland” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0414 67 Pascal’s Wager and an American Electionhttp://historyofliterature.com/67-pascals-wager-and-an-american-election/
Fri, 18 Nov 2016 05:03:25 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=411http://historyofliterature.com/67-pascals-wager-and-an-american-election/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/67-pascals-wager-and-an-american-election/feed/0Jacke digs into his origins in rural Wisconsin and offers some thoughts on race, literature, and the recent election. Also featured: René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, and Simone de Beauvoir. Show Notes: We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/67-pascals-wager-and-an-american-election/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">67 Pascal’s Wager and an American Election</span></a>Jacke digs into his origins in rural Wisconsin and offers some thoughts on race, literature, and the recent election. Also featured: René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, and Simone de Beauvoir.

Show Notes:

We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Jacke digs into his origins in rural Wisconsin and offers some thoughts on race, literature, and the recent election. Also featured: René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, and Simone de Beauvoir.
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0411 66 James Baldwin, Wallace Stegner, GB Tran, Lois Duncan (with author Shawna Yang Ryan)http://historyofliterature.com/66-james-baldwin-wallace-stegner-gb-tran-lois-duncan-with-author-shawna-yang-ryan/
Fri, 04 Nov 2016 04:05:14 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=406http://historyofliterature.com/66-james-baldwin-wallace-stegner-gb-tran-lois-duncan-with-author-shawna-yang-ryan/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/66-james-baldwin-wallace-stegner-gb-tran-lois-duncan-with-author-shawna-yang-ryan/feed/0What can we do to unlock the past? How do family secrets affect us? Author Shawna Yang Ryan has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues – and in this episode, she joins Jacke for a discussion of some of her favorite books, including the novel that led her to rethink her understanding of the … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/66-james-baldwin-wallace-stegner-gb-tran-lois-duncan-with-author-shawna-yang-ryan/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">66 James Baldwin, Wallace Stegner, GB Tran, Lois Duncan (with author Shawna Yang Ryan)</span></a>What can we do to unlock the past? How do family secrets affect us? Author Shawna Yang Ryan has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues – and in this episode, she joins Jacke for a discussion of some of her favorite books, including the novel that led her to rethink her understanding of the American West and the graphic novel about a family’s journey that can bring her to tears.

SHAWNA YANG RYAN is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of Water Ghosts (Penguin Press 2009) and Green Island (Knopf 2016). She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika Review, and The Berkeley Fiction Review. She is the 2015 recipient of the Elliot Cades Emerging Writer award. Originally from California, she now lives in Honolulu.

]]>What can we do to unlock the past? How do family secrets affect us? Author Shawna Yang Ryan has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues – and in this episode, she joins Jacke for a discussion of some of her favorite books,
SHAWNA YANG RYAN is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of Water Ghosts (Penguin Press 2009) and Green Island (Knopf 2016). She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika Review, and The Berkeley Fiction Review. She is the 2015 recipient of the Elliot Cades Emerging Writer award. Originally from California, she now lives in Honolulu.
Works Discussed:Green Island and Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang RyanAnother Country by James BaldwinAngle of Repose by Wallace StegnerVietnamerica: A Family’s Journey by GB TranLocked in Time by Lois DuncanTuck Everlasting by Natalie BabbittYi Yi [A One and a Two…] directed by Edward Yang
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” and “Greta Sting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0Jacke Wilson58:4440665 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (with Professor James Chandler)http://historyofliterature.com/65-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-with-professor-james-chandler/
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 04:05:28 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=401http://historyofliterature.com/65-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-with-professor-james-chandler/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/65-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-with-professor-james-chandler/feed/0By any measure, Mary Shelley (1797-1851) lived a radical life. As the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, two philosophers devoted to principles of freedom and equality, she grew up in a tumultuous world of exciting new ideas and strong advocacy for social change. After she and the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley eloped … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/65-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-with-professor-james-chandler/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">65 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (with Professor James Chandler)</span></a>By any measure, Mary Shelley (1797-1851) lived a radical life. As the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, two philosophers devoted to principles of freedom and equality, she grew up in a tumultuous world of exciting new ideas and strong advocacy for social change. After she and the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley eloped at a young age, they spent a rainy summer with Lord Byron and two other friends in a cottage in Geneva, Switzerland, where they passed the time by inventing ghost stories. And it was in that cottage that what is probably the most famous Halloween story of all time, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), was brought to life.

What ideas shaped this famous story of a scientist who successfully animates a corpse before ruing the consequences? What does the novel have to say about the importance of human relationships in our society? And how does the novel connect to Frank Capra’s Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life? In this special Halloween episode, we’ll talk to Professor James Chandler of the University of Chicago, author of An Archaeology of Sympathy: The Sentimental Mode in Literature and Cinema, about the fascinating world of Mary Shelley, her novel Frankenstein, and the films they inspired.

]]>By any measure, Mary Shelley (1797-1851) lived a radical life. As the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, two philosophers devoted to principles of freedom and equality, she grew up in a tumultuous world of exciting new ideas and strong...
What ideas shaped this famous story of a scientist who successfully animates a corpse before ruing the consequences? What does the novel have to say about the importance of human relationships in our society? And how does the novel connect to Frank Capra’s Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life? In this special Halloween episode, we’ll talk to Professor James Chandler of the University of Chicago, author of An Archaeology of Sympathy: The Sentimental Mode in Literature and Cinema, about the fascinating world of Mary Shelley, her novel Frankenstein, and the films they inspired.
Works Discussed:An Archaeology of Sympathy: The Sentimental Mode in Literature and Cinema, by James Chandler Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Supernatural Radio A” and “Greta Sting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0401 64 Dorothy Parkerhttp://historyofliterature.com/64-dorothy-parker/
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:05:06 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=397http://historyofliterature.com/64-dorothy-parker/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/64-dorothy-parker/feed/0“She was a combination of Little Nell and Lady Macbeth,” said Alexander Woolcott. Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) wrote short stories, poems, reviews, screenplays, and more. Perhaps most famously, she was part of the group of New Yorkers known as the Algonquin Round Table, which met every day for lunch and eventually grew famous for their witticisms, put-downs, and … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/64-dorothy-parker/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">64 Dorothy Parker</span></a>“She was a combination of Little Nell and Lady Macbeth,” said Alexander Woolcott. Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) wrote short stories, poems, reviews, screenplays, and more. Perhaps most famously, she was part of the group of New Yorkers known as the Algonquin Round Table, which met every day for lunch and eventually grew famous for their witticisms, put-downs, and general high spirits. A woman of brilliance as well as deep contradiction, Parker at her best combined romantic optimism with a dark, biting pessimism that still feels modern.

In this episode, Jacke is joined by the President of the Literature Supporters Club for a field report of the Algonquin Hotel today and a discussion of Parker’s life, works, and top ten quips.

Show Notes:

We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

“I Wished on the Moon” by Billie Holiday (1935) and Ella Fitzgerald and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra (1962)

]]>“She was a combination of Little Nell and Lady Macbeth,” said Alexander Woolcott. Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) wrote short stories, poems, reviews, screenplays, and more. Perhaps most famously, she was part of the group of New Yorkers known as the Algonq...
In this episode, Jacke is joined by the President of the Literature Supporters Club for a field report of the Algonquin Hotel today and a discussion of Parker’s life, works, and top ten quips.
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“I Wished on the Moon” by Billie Holiday (1935) and Ella Fitzgerald and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra (1962)

397 63 Chekhov, Bellow, Wright, and Fox (with Charles Baxter)http://historyofliterature.com/63-chekhov-bellow-wright-and-fox-with-charles-baxter/
Fri, 14 Oct 2016 04:05:54 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=391http://historyofliterature.com/63-chekhov-bellow-wright-and-fox-with-charles-baxter/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/63-chekhov-bellow-wright-and-fox-with-charles-baxter/feed/0In this special episode, the revered American author Charles Baxter joins Jacke to discuss some of his favorite books, including works by Anton Chekhov, Saul Bellow, James Wright, and Paula Fox. “Charles Baxter’s stories have reminded me of how broad and deep and shining a story can be, and I am grateful.” — Alice Munro CHARLES … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/63-chekhov-bellow-wright-and-fox-with-charles-baxter/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">63 Chekhov, Bellow, Wright, and Fox (with Charles Baxter)</span></a>In this special episode, the revered American author Charles Baxter joins Jacke to discuss some of his favorite books, including works by Anton Chekhov, Saul Bellow, James Wright, and Paula Fox.

“Charles Baxter’s stories have reminded me of how broad and deep and shining a story can be, and I am grateful.” — Alice Munro

CHARLES BAXTER is the author of the novels The Feast of Love (nominated for the National Book Award), The Soul Thief, Saul and Patsy, Shadow Play, and First Light, and the story collections Gryphon,Believers, A Relative Stranger, Through the Safety Net, and Harmony of the World. The stories “Bravery” and “Charity,” which appear in There’s Something I Want You to Do, were included in Best American Short Stories. Baxter lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the University of Minnesota and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

]]>In this special episode, the revered American author Charles Baxter joins Jacke to discuss some of his favorite books, including works by Anton Chekhov, Saul Bellow, James Wright, and Paula Fox. “Charles Baxter’s stories have reminded me of how broad a...
“Charles Baxter’s stories have reminded me of how broad and deep and shining a story can be, and I am grateful.” — Alice Munro
CHARLES BAXTER is the author of the novels The Feast of Love (nominated for the National Book Award), The Soul Thief, Saul and Patsy, Shadow Play, and First Light, and the story collections Gryphon, Believers, A Relative Stranger, Through the Safety Net, and Harmony of the World. The stories “Bravery” and “Charity,” which appear in There’s Something I Want You to Do, were included in Best American Short Stories. Baxter lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the University of Minnesota and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
Works Discussed:Collected Poems by James WrightHerzog, Henderson the Rain King, and Humboldt’s Gift by Saul BellowDesperate Characters and The Widow’s Children by Paula FoxSelected Stories by Anton Chekhov
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Sweet Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0391 62 Bad Poetryhttp://historyofliterature.com/62-bad-poetry/
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 04:04:26 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=384http://historyofliterature.com/62-bad-poetry/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/62-bad-poetry/feed/0Everyone loves and admires a good poem…but what about the bad ones? After discussing his own experience writing terrible poetry, Jacke analyzes the 10 things that make a poem go wrong, assesses the curious role of Scotland and Michigan in developing bad poetry, and reviews some candidates for the worst poet in history, including: Jennifer Aniston, whose astonishingly … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/62-bad-poetry/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">62 Bad Poetry</span></a>Everyone loves and admires a good poem…but what about the bad ones? After discussing his own experience writing terrible poetry, Jacke analyzes the 10 things that make a poem go wrong, assesses the curious role of Scotland and Michigan in developing bad poetry, and reviews some candidates for the worst poet in history, including:

Julia A. Moore, the “Sweet Singer of Michigan,” whose poems were described as “worse than a Gatling gun” and “rare food for the lunatic,” but who insisted on giving public performances (to her husband’s mortification and Mark Twain’s delight);

Margaret Cavendish, the seventeenth-century aristocrat whose nature poems took her into the unintentionally comic realm of extreme bad taste (and near cannibalism);

…and many others as well. It’s a celebration of bad poetry… the agony and the ecstasy… the cringeworthy and the triumphant… or, as William McGonagall, one of the best (worst?) of the bad poets might say: “This episode is very fine / Indeed I think it very fine.”

Show Notes:

We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Everyone loves and admires a good poem…but what about the bad ones? After discussing his own experience writing terrible poetry, Jacke analyzes the 10 things that make a poem go wrong, assesses the curious role of Scotland and Michigan in developing ba...
* Jennifer Aniston, whose astonishingly bad love poem to John Mayer graced (disgraced?) the pages of Star magazine;
* James McIntyre, the Canadian poet known as “the Chaucer of Cheese”;
* Julia A. Moore, the “Sweet Singer of Michigan,” whose poems were described as “worse than a Gatling gun” and “rare food for the lunatic,” but who insisted on giving public performances (to her husband’s mortification and Mark Twain’s delight);
* Margaret Cavendish, the seventeenth-century aristocrat whose nature poems took her into the unintentionally comic realm of extreme bad taste (and near cannibalism);

…and many others as well. It’s a celebration of bad poetry… the agony and the ecstasy… the cringeworthy and the triumphant… or, as William McGonagall, one of the best (worst?) of the bad poets might say: “This episode is very fine / Indeed I think it very fine.”
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).

384 61 In the Mood for a Good Book – Wharton, Murakami, Chandler, and Fowles (with Vu Tran)http://historyofliterature.com/61-in-the-mood-for-a-good-book-wharton-murakami-chandler-and-fowles-with-vu-tran/
Fri, 30 Sep 2016 04:05:50 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=379http://historyofliterature.com/61-in-the-mood-for-a-good-book-wharton-murakami-chandler-and-fowles-with-vu-tran/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/61-in-the-mood-for-a-good-book-wharton-murakami-chandler-and-fowles-with-vu-tran/feed/2What do Edith Wharton, Haruki Murakami, Raymond Chandler, John Fowles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Wong Kar-wai have in common? All are known for their ability to generate a particular mood and atmosphere – and all were selected by our guest, Professor Vu Tran of the University of Chicago, as being particularly inspirational as he wrote his … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/61-in-the-mood-for-a-good-book-wharton-murakami-chandler-and-fowles-with-vu-tran/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">61 In the Mood for a Good Book – Wharton, Murakami, Chandler, and Fowles (with Vu Tran)</span></a>What do Edith Wharton, Haruki Murakami, Raymond Chandler, John Fowles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Wong Kar-wai have in common? All are known for their ability to generate a particular mood and atmosphere – and all were selected by our guest, Professor Vu Tran of the University of Chicago, as being particularly inspirational as he wrote his novel Dragonfish. In this episode, Vu and Jacke discuss what makes these works so compelling, how the works helped Vu write his novel, and how a certain American city produces an intense feeling of endless hope and melancholy, twenty-four hours a day.

VU TRAN is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Chicago and the author of Dragonfish: A Novel (2015). Professor Tran has been described as “a fiction writer whose work thus far is preoccupied with the legacy of the Vietnam War for the Vietnamese who remained in the homeland, the Vietnamese who immigrated to America, and the Americans whose lives have intersected with both.”

“Richly satisfying work….[Has] a place on the top shelf of literary thrillers.” —Gerald Bartell, San Francisco Chronicle

]]>What do Edith Wharton, Haruki Murakami, Raymond Chandler, John Fowles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Wong Kar-wai have in common? All are known for their ability to generate a particular mood and atmosphere – and all were selected by our guest,
VU TRAN is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Chicago and the author of Dragonfish: A Novel (2015). Professor Tran has been described as “a fiction writer whose work thus far is preoccupied with the legacy of the Vietnam War for the Vietnamese who remained in the homeland, the Vietnamese who immigrated to America, and the Americans whose lives have intersected with both.”
“Richly satisfying work….[Has] a place on the top shelf of literary thrillers.” —Gerald Bartell, San Francisco Chronicle
Works Discussed:Dragonfish: A Novel by Vu TranThe Magus by John FowlesThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki MurakamiThe Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonThe Big Sleep by Raymond ChandlerVertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)In the Mood for Love (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).379 60 Great Literary Endingshttp://historyofliterature.com/59-great-literary-endings/
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 04:05:53 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=374http://historyofliterature.com/59-great-literary-endings/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/59-great-literary-endings/feed/0Everyone always talks about the greatest openings in the history of literature – I’m looking at you, Call me Ishmael – but what about endings? Aren’t those just as important? What are the different ways to end short stories and novels? Which endings work well and why? In this episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at great … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/59-great-literary-endings/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">60 Great Literary Endings</span></a>Everyone always talks about the greatest openings in the history of literature – I’m looking at you, Call me Ishmael – but what about endings? Aren’t those just as important? What are the different ways to end short stories and novels? Which endings work well and why? In this episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at great literary endings, with some assistance from David Lodge, Charles Baxter, Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce, Flannery O’Connor, Samuel Beckett, Iris Murdoch, Uncle Wiggily, The Third Man, Donald Barthelme, Alice Munro, Henry James, E.B. White, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary Shelley, David Foster Wallace, O. Henry, Ian McEwan, Thomas Mann, and Joseph Conrad.

Show Notes:

We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).

]]>Everyone always talks about the greatest openings in the history of literature – I’m looking at you, Call me Ishmael – but what about endings? Aren’t those just as important? What are the different ways to end short stories and novels?
Show Notes:
We have a special episode coming up – listener feedback! Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).374 59 Flannery O’Connorhttp://historyofliterature.com/59-flannery-oconnor/
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 04:05:27 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=369http://historyofliterature.com/59-flannery-oconnor/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/59-flannery-oconnor/feed/2Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) lived a life that, in retrospect, looks almost like one of her short stories: sudden, impactful, and lastingly powerful. Deeply Catholic, O’Connor portrayed the American South as a place full of complex characters seeking redemption in unusual and often violent ways. She once said that she had found that violence was “strangely capable of returning … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/59-flannery-oconnor/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">59 Flannery O’Connor</span></a>Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) lived a life that, in retrospect, looks almost like one of her short stories: sudden, impactful, and lastingly powerful. Deeply Catholic, O’Connor portrayed the American South as a place full of complex characters seeking redemption in unusual and often violent ways. She once said that she had found that violence was “strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace,” and it is this confrontation – restless faith crashing into pain and evil – that energizes O’Connor’s best works. Possessed of almost supernatural writerly gifts, O’Connor’s insight and artistry place her in the uppermost echelon of American authors. Host Jacke Wilson tells the story of O’Connor’s life, her most famous works, and his own near-connection to the author…before concluding with some troubling recent discoveries and a preview of a deeper examination of O’Connor and her place in American letters.

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0369 58 Wyndham Lewis and the Vorticists (with Professor Paul Peppis)http://historyofliterature.com/58-wyndham-lewis-and-the-vorticists-with-professor-paul-peppis/
Fri, 09 Sep 2016 04:05:52 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=363http://historyofliterature.com/58-wyndham-lewis-and-the-vorticists-with-professor-paul-peppis/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/58-wyndham-lewis-and-the-vorticists-with-professor-paul-peppis/feed/0Embattled and arrogant, the novelist and painter Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) was deeply immersed in Modernism even as he sought to blast it apart. He was the type of person who would rather hate a club than join it – and while his taste for the attack led to his marginalization, his undeniable genius made him impossible to ignore. Eventually, his … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/58-wyndham-lewis-and-the-vorticists-with-professor-paul-peppis/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">58 Wyndham Lewis and the Vorticists (with Professor Paul Peppis)</span></a>Embattled and arrogant, the novelist and painter Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) was deeply immersed in Modernism even as he sought to blast it apart. He was the type of person who would rather hate a club than join it – and while his taste for the attack led to his marginalization, his undeniable genius made him impossible to ignore. Eventually, his misanthropic views led him down some dark paths, as the freedom and energy of the early twentieth century gave way to totalitarian regimes and the horrors of modern war. Professor Paul Peppis, an expert in the politics, art, and literature of the Modernist era, joins Jacke for a discussion of Wyndham Lewis and his leadership of the thrilling, doomed artistic revolution known as Vorticism.

]]>Embattled and arrogant, the novelist and painter Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) was deeply immersed in Modernism even as he sought to blast it apart. He was the type of person who would rather hate a club than join it – and while his taste for the attack le...
Show Notes:
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Modern Piano Epsilon – The Small” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0363 57 Borges, Munro, Davis, Barthelme – All About Short Stories (And Long Ones Too)http://historyofliterature.com/57-borges-munro-davis-barthelme-all-about-short-stories-and-long-ones-too/
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 04:05:52 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=355http://historyofliterature.com/57-borges-munro-davis-barthelme-all-about-short-stories-and-long-ones-too/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/57-borges-munro-davis-barthelme-all-about-short-stories-and-long-ones-too/feed/0What makes a short story a short story? What can a short story do that a novel can’t? Can a story ever be TOO short? The President of the Literature Supporters Club stops by to discuss the length of fiction, with some help from Lydia Davis, Donald Barthelme, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Munro, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/57-borges-munro-davis-barthelme-all-about-short-stories-and-long-ones-too/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">57 Borges, Munro, Davis, Barthelme – All About Short Stories (And Long Ones Too)</span></a>What makes a short story a short story? What can a short story do that a novel can’t? Can a story ever be TOO short? The President of the Literature Supporters Club stops by to discuss the length of fiction, with some help from Lydia Davis, Donald Barthelme, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Munro, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Roberto Bolano, Georges Simenon, Alberto Moravia, Augusto Monterroso, Jonathan Franzen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saul Bellow, and Franz Kafka.

]]>What makes a short story a short story? What can a short story do that a novel can’t? Can a story ever be TOO short? The President of the Literature Supporters Club stops by to discuss the length of fiction, with some help from Lydia Davis,
Show Notes:
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Spy Glass,” “Sweeter Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0355 56 Shelley, HD, Yeats, Frost, Stevens – The Poetry of Ruins (with Professor Bill Hogan)http://historyofliterature.com/56-shelley-hd-yeats-frost-stevens-the-poetry-of-ruins-with-professor-bill-hogan/
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 04:11:41 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=349http://historyofliterature.com/56-shelley-hd-yeats-frost-stevens-the-poetry-of-ruins-with-professor-bill-hogan/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/56-shelley-hd-yeats-frost-stevens-the-poetry-of-ruins-with-professor-bill-hogan/feed/1In 1818, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published his classic poem “Ozymandias,” depicting the fallen statue of a once-powerful king whose inscription “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” has long since crumbled into the desert. A hundred years later, a set of Modernist poets revisited the subject of ruins, injecting the poetic trope with some surprising … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/56-shelley-hd-yeats-frost-stevens-the-poetry-of-ruins-with-professor-bill-hogan/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">56 Shelley, HD, Yeats, Frost, Stevens – The Poetry of Ruins (with Professor Bill Hogan)</span></a>In 1818, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published his classic poem “Ozymandias,” depicting the fallen statue of a once-powerful king whose inscription “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” has long since crumbled into the desert. A hundred years later, a set of Modernist poets revisited the subject of ruins, injecting the poetic trope with some surprising new ideas. Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College joins Jacke for a look at the treatment of ruins in the poetry of H.D. (1886-1961), William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), Robert Frost (1874-1963), and Wallace Stevens (1879-1955).

Works Discussed:

“Ozymandias” (1818) – Percy Bysshe Shelley

“The Walls Do Not Fall” (1944) – H.D.

“The Tower” (1928) – W.B. Yeats

“The Directive” (1946) – Robert Frost

“The Anecdote of the Jar” (1919) and “The Man on the Dump” (1939) – Wallace Stevens

]]>In 1818, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published his classic poem “Ozymandias,” depicting the fallen statue of a once-powerful king whose inscription “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” has long since crumbled into the desert.
Works Discussed:
“Ozymandias” (1818) – Percy Bysshe Shelley
“The Walls Do Not Fall” (1944) – H.D.
“The Tower” (1928) – W.B. Yeats
“The Directive” (1946) – Robert Frost
“The Anecdote of the Jar” (1919) and “The Man on the Dump” (1939) – Wallace Stevens
Show Notes:
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).349 55 James Joyce (with Vincent O’Neill)http://historyofliterature.com/55-james-joyce-with-vincent-oneill/
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 04:07:34 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=342http://historyofliterature.com/55-james-joyce-with-vincent-oneill/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/55-james-joyce-with-vincent-oneill/feed/0Vincent O’Neill hails from Sandycove, Dublin, where he grew up in the shadow of the tower made famous by the opening chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses. After a childhood spent tracing the steps of Joyce’s characters, Vincent developed a love for the theatre, eventually becoming the co-founder and artistic director of the Irish Classical Theatre Company in … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/55-james-joyce-with-vincent-oneill/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">55 James Joyce (with Vincent O’Neill)</span></a>Vincent O’Neill hails from Sandycove, Dublin, where he grew up in the shadow of the tower made famous by the opening chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses. After a childhood spent tracing the steps of Joyce’s characters, Vincent developed a love for the theatre, eventually becoming the co-founder and artistic director of the Irish Classical Theatre Company in Buffalo, New York. He joins Jacke Wilson for a discussion of James Joyce and the theatre, including a staging of Joyce’s play Exiles, the magic of Joyce’s language, and the long journey to bring an adaptation of Finnegan’s Wake to the stage.

]]>Vincent O’Neill hails from Sandycove, Dublin, where he grew up in the shadow of the tower made famous by the opening chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses. After a childhood spent tracing the steps of Joyce’s characters,
Show Notes:
Learn more about the Irish Classical Theatre Company at irishclassical.com.
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).342 54 The Greatest Books Ever (Part 2)http://historyofliterature.com/54-the-greatest-books-ever-part-2/
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 04:09:25 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=336http://historyofliterature.com/54-the-greatest-books-ever-part-2/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/54-the-greatest-books-ever-part-2/feed/0What books are essential? Who has the authority to choose them, and what is their selection process? First, Jacke and Mike continue their look at the College Board’s 101 Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers. Then Jacke proposes a different method for determining which books are relevant in today’s world – and tests the results against the College Board’s efforts. … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/54-the-greatest-books-ever-part-2/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">54 The Greatest Books Ever (Part 2)</span></a>What books are essential? Who has the authority to choose them, and what is their selection process? First, Jacke and Mike continue their look at the College Board’s 101 Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers. Then Jacke proposes a different method for determining which books are relevant in today’s world – and tests the results against the College Board’s efforts.

]]>What books are essential? Who has the authority to choose them, and what is their selection process? First, Jacke and Mike continue their look at the College Board’s 101 Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers.
You can find a PDF of the College Board’s list at:
http://www.uhlibrary.net/pdf/college_board_recommended_books.pdf
Shane Sherman’s List of Lists can be found at:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/
His methodology is described at:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/details
Show Notes:
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Bass Walker,” “Sweeter Vermouth,” “Greta Sting” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0336 53 Romeo and Juliethttp://historyofliterature.com/53-romeo-and-juliet/
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 04:04:28 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=328http://historyofliterature.com/53-romeo-and-juliet/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/53-romeo-and-juliet/feed/0In 1964, the Oxford professor John Barrington Wain wrote: “…Romeo and Juliet is as perfectly achieved as anything in Shakespeare’s work. It is a flawless little jewel of a play. It has the clear, bright colours, the blend of freshness and formality, of an illuminated manuscript.” First produced in 1594, The Tragedy of Romeo and … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/53-romeo-and-juliet/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">53 Romeo and Juliet</span></a>In 1964, the Oxford professor John Barrington Wain wrote: “…Romeo and Juliet is as perfectly achieved as anything in Shakespeare’s work. It is a flawless little jewel of a play. It has the clear, bright colours, the blend of freshness and formality, of an illuminated manuscript.”

First produced in 1594, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet became an immediate sensation, and the story of the star-crossed lovers has been a core part of Western civilization ever since. Why is the play so popular? What does it tell us about falling in love – and how does that differ from being in love? And what does any of this have to do with George Carlin?

]]>In 1964, the Oxford professor John Barrington Wain wrote: “…Romeo and Juliet is as perfectly achieved as anything in Shakespeare’s work. It is a flawless little jewel of a play. It has the clear, bright colours, the blend of freshness and formality,
First produced in 1594, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet became an immediate sensation, and the story of the star-crossed lovers has been a core part of Western civilization ever since. Why is the play so popular? What does it tell us about falling in love – and how does that differ from being in love? And what does any of this have to do with George Carlin?
Show Notes:
Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).328 52 Recommend This! The Best 101 Books for College-Bound Readershttp://historyofliterature.com/52-recommend-this-the-best-101-books-for-college-bound-readers/
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 12:04:10 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=322http://historyofliterature.com/52-recommend-this-the-best-101-books-for-college-bound-readers/#commentshttp://historyofliterature.com/52-recommend-this-the-best-101-books-for-college-bound-readers/feed/2What works of literature are essential? When we start reading literature, where do we begin? The College Board, an organization that prepares standardized tests for millions of American young people, has published list of 101 recommended books for college-bound readers. High schools and colleges across the country take their lead from this list, and students are encouraged to use … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/52-recommend-this-the-best-101-books-for-college-bound-readers/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">52 Recommend This! The Best 101 Books for College-Bound Readers</span></a>What works of literature are essential? When we start reading literature, where do we begin? The College Board, an organization that prepares standardized tests for millions of American young people, has published list of 101 recommended books for college-bound readers. High schools and colleges across the country take their lead from this list, and students are encouraged to use it as a guide to a summer of literature. But is the list any good? Can it be improved? The President of the Literature Supporters Club joins Jacke for a discussion of the list’s most worthy selections…and its most egregious omissions.

]]>What works of literature are essential? When we start reading literature, where do we begin? The College Board, an organization that prepares standardized tests for millions of American young people, has published list of 101 recommended books for coll...
You can find a PDF of the full list at:
http://www.uhlibrary.net/pdf/college_board_recommended_books.pdf
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Bass Walker” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0322 51 Coleridge, Kubla Khan, and the Person from Porlock – A Literary Mysteryhttp://historyofliterature.com/51-coleridge-kubla-khan-and-the-person-from-porlock-a-literary-mystery/
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 04:07:27 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=317http://historyofliterature.com/51-coleridge-kubla-khan-and-the-person-from-porlock-a-literary-mystery/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/51-coleridge-kubla-khan-and-the-person-from-porlock-a-literary-mystery/feed/0In 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and fell into a stupor. When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese emperor Kubla Khan and his summer palace, Xanadu. The vision transformed itself into lines of poetry, … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/51-coleridge-kubla-khan-and-the-person-from-porlock-a-literary-mystery/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">51 Coleridge, Kubla Khan, and the Person from Porlock – A Literary Mystery</span></a>In 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and fell into a stupor. When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese emperor Kubla Khan and his summer palace, Xanadu. The vision transformed itself into lines of poetry, but as he started writing, he was interrupted by a Person from Porlock, who arrived at Coleridge’s cottage on business and stayed for an hour. when Coleridge returned to his work, the vision had been lost, and the fragmentary nature of the poem Kubla Khan has haunted its admirers ever since. The resentment has centered around the bumbling Person from Porlock, whose visit remains shrouded in mystery. The scholar Jonathan Livingston Lowes put it bluntly: “If there is any man in the history of literature who should e hanged, drawn, and quartered,” he wrote, “it is the man on business from Porlock.”

Who was this Person from Porlock, and why was he knocking on the door of Coleridge’s cottage? How did Coleridge handle the interruption, and what did it mean for him and his art? And finally, what might we take from this vivid legend today?

]]>In 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and fell into a stupor. When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese emperor Kubla Khan and his summer palace, Xanadu.
Who was this Person from Porlock, and why was he knocking on the door of Coleridge’s cottage? How did Coleridge handle the interruption, and what did it mean for him and his art? And finally, what might we take from this vivid legend today?
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0Jacke Wilson65:5331750 Othellohttp://historyofliterature.com/50-othello/
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 04:06:12 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=307http://historyofliterature.com/50-othello/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/50-othello/feed/0One of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (ca. 1603) is perhaps the most difficult of them to watch. The malevolent Iago, viewed by some as evil incarnate, has been infuriating audiences for centuries – legend has it that at one performance in the Old West, a cowboy in the audience was so offended … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/50-othello/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">50 Othello</span></a>One of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (ca. 1603) is perhaps the most difficult of them to watch. The malevolent Iago, viewed by some as evil incarnate, has been infuriating audiences for centuries – legend has it that at one performance in the Old West, a cowboy in the audience was so offended by Iago’s machinations he pulled out his pistol and shot him. And theater professionals are well accustomed to the gasps, cries, and occasional screams from the audience as they view the horrendous scene, in which the jealous lead character is finally driven to kill his wife, the innocent Desdemona. What motivates Iago? Why is Othello so susceptible? And what themes in Othello still resonate today?

]]>One of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (ca. 1603) is perhaps the most difficult of them to watch. The malevolent Iago, viewed by some as evil incarnate, has been infuriating audiences for centuries – legen...
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).307 49 MFA Programs – The Good, the Bad, and the Uglyhttp://historyofliterature.com/49-mfa-programs-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
Mon, 04 Jul 2016 04:04:49 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=310http://historyofliterature.com/49-mfa-programs-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/49-mfa-programs-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/feed/0For decades, the Master of Fine Arts degree has quietly dominated the American literary scene. There are now over 100 programs where professors and students go about the business of turning dreams into fiction through the alchemy – or as some would say, the meatgrinder – known as the writing workshop. It’s a phenomenon like … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/49-mfa-programs-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">49 MFA Programs – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly</span></a>For decades, the Master of Fine Arts degree has quietly dominated the American literary scene. There are now over 100 programs where professors and students go about the business of turning dreams into fiction through the alchemy – or as some would say, the meatgrinder – known as the writing workshop. It’s a phenomenon like no other in the history of literature. What goes on at these MFA programs? What good comes out of them? And what impact are they having on contemporary American literature? The President of the Literature Supporters Club joins Jacke for a discussion of MFA programs.

]]>For decades, the Master of Fine Arts degree has quietly dominated the American literary scene. There are now over 100 programs where professors and students go about the business of turning dreams into fiction through the alchemy – or as some would say...
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).Jacke Wilson51:1931048 Hamlethttp://historyofliterature.com/48-hamlet/
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:02:47 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=304http://historyofliterature.com/48-hamlet/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/48-hamlet/feed/0Hamlet (ca 1599-1602) has been called the greatest play ever written in English – and even that might not be giving it enough credit. Many would rank it among the greatest achievements in the history of humankind. Jacke Wilson takes a deeper look at the Prince of Negative Capability and his famous soliloquy. Show Notes: You can find more … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/48-hamlet/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">48 Hamlet</span></a>Hamlet (ca 1599-1602) has been called the greatest play ever written in English – and even that might not be giving it enough credit. Many would rank it among the greatest achievements in the history of humankind. Jacke Wilson takes a deeper look at the Prince of Negative Capability and his famous soliloquy.

]]>Hamlet (ca 1599-1602) has been called the greatest play ever written in English – and even that might not be giving it enough credit. Many would rank it among the greatest achievements in the history of humankind.
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).Jacke Wilsonclean32:3130447 Hemingway vs Fitzgeraldhttp://historyofliterature.com/47-hemingway-vs-fitzgerald/
Mon, 20 Jun 2016 04:03:49 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=301http://historyofliterature.com/47-hemingway-vs-fitzgerald/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/47-hemingway-vs-fitzgerald/feed/0Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) were the pole stars of the Lost Generation, the collection of young American authors who came of age in the Paris and New York of the 1920s. The Hemingway-Fitzgerald relationship has been examined for decades and continues to fascinate. Why are we so drawn to these two … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/47-hemingway-vs-fitzgerald/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">47 Hemingway vs Fitzgerald</span></a>Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) were the pole stars of the Lost Generation, the collection of young American authors who came of age in the Paris and New York of the 1920s. The Hemingway-Fitzgerald relationship has been examined for decades and continues to fascinate. Why are we so drawn to these two authors? What do they represent in American literature? Who was the better author, and why?

Jacke and Mike take a look at the great Hemingway-Fitzgerald debate – and challenge themselves to find ten new things to say about these American icons.

]]>Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) were the pole stars of the Lost Generation, the collection of young American authors who came of age in the Paris and New York of the 1920s. The Hemingway-Fitzgerald relationship has been...
Jacke and Mike take a look at the great Hemingway-Fitzgerald debate – and challenge themselves to find ten new things to say about these American icons.
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).301 46 Poetry of the T’ang Dynastyhttp://historyofliterature.com/46-poetry-of-the-tang-dynasty/
Mon, 13 Jun 2016 04:11:15 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=296http://historyofliterature.com/46-poetry-of-the-tang-dynasty/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/46-poetry-of-the-tang-dynasty/feed/0China’s T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) valued poets and poetry like no other culture before or since. In this episode, Jacke Wilson takes a look at what may have been the greatest flourishing of poetry in the history of the world. Poets discussed include Ezra Pound (1885-1972), T’ao Ch’ien (365-427), Wang Wei (ca. 699-761), Li Bai (Li Po) (701-762), and Tu … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/46-poetry-of-the-tang-dynasty/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">46 Poetry of the T’ang Dynasty</span></a>China’s T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) valued poets and poetry like no other culture before or since. In this episode, Jacke Wilson takes a look at what may have been the greatest flourishing of poetry in the history of the world. Poets discussed include Ezra Pound (1885-1972), T’ao Ch’ien (365-427), Wang Wei (ca. 699-761), Li Bai (Li Po) (701-762), and Tu Fu (712-770).

]]>China’s T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) valued poets and poetry like no other culture before or since. In this episode, Jacke Wilson takes a look at what may have been the greatest flourishing of poetry in the history of the world.
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Tea Roots” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0296 45 Augustine and The Confessions (pt 2)http://historyofliterature.com/45-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-2/
Mon, 06 Jun 2016 04:05:50 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=292http://historyofliterature.com/45-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-2/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/45-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-2/feed/0Continuing the journey with a deeper look at the incredible achievements of St. Augustine (354 – 430 A.D.), a luminary of the early Catholic church, one of the most profound thinkers in Western culture, and the author of a work the likes of which the world had never seen, The Confessions. Host Jacke Wilson identifies five … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/45-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-2/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">45 Augustine and The Confessions (pt 2)</span></a>Continuing the journey with a deeper look at the incredible achievements of St. Augustine (354 – 430 A.D.), a luminary of the early Catholic church, one of the most profound thinkers in Western culture, and the author of a work the likes of which the world had never seen, The Confessions. Host Jacke Wilson identifies five key themes in The Confessions and shows how the themes build up to the autobiography’s culminating passage.

]]>Continuing the journey with a deeper look at the incredible achievements of St. Augustine (354 – 430 A.D.), a luminary of the early Catholic church, one of the most profound thinkers in Western culture, and the author of a work the likes of which the w...
Works Discussed:The Confessions of St. Augustine (tr. Maria Boulding)
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Virtutes Vocis” and “Virtutes Instrumenti” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0292 44 Augustine and The Confessions (pt 1)http://historyofliterature.com/44-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-1/
Mon, 30 May 2016 04:02:37 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=283http://historyofliterature.com/44-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-1/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/44-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-1/feed/0The journey continues! Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at one of the deepest thinkers in the Western tradition, St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), and the literary form he pioneered and perfected. Who was Augustine? What led him to produce one of the most influential books ever written? And what can we gain from reading The Confessions … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/44-augustine-and-the-confessions-pt-1/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">44 Augustine and The Confessions (pt 1)</span></a>The journey continues! Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at one of the deepest thinkers in the Western tradition, St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), and the literary form he pioneered and perfected. Who was Augustine? What led him to produce one of the most influential books ever written? And what can we gain from reading The Confessions today? In this first of a two-part episode, Jacke considers Augustine’s relationship to God, the impact of his studies in rhetoric on his attempts to write an autobiography, and what the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche would have made of Augustine’s description of tragedy.

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0283 43 Seeing Evil (with Professor Rebecca Messbarger)http://historyofliterature.com/43-seeing-evil-with-professor-rebecca-messbarger/
Mon, 23 May 2016 04:06:13 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=279http://historyofliterature.com/43-seeing-evil-with-professor-rebecca-messbarger/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/43-seeing-evil-with-professor-rebecca-messbarger/feed/0What is evil? Is it a force that lives outside us? Or something that dwells within? And how do we recognize it? Professor Rebecca Messbarger joins Jacke to discuss the problems of seeing evil and the particular ways that post-Fascist Italian writers dealt with the dilemma. We also hear the story of how a mild-mannered Italian … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/43-seeing-evil-with-professor-rebecca-messbarger/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">43 Seeing Evil (with Professor Rebecca Messbarger)</span></a>What is evil? Is it a force that lives outside us? Or something that dwells within? And how do we recognize it? Professor Rebecca Messbarger joins Jacke to discuss the problems of seeing evil and the particular ways that post-Fascist Italian writers dealt with the dilemma. We also hear the story of how a mild-mannered Italian professor’s scholarly research eventually led to her roaming the Internet in an attempt to purchase a cadaver.

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0Jacke Wilsonclean69:5827942 Was Prince a Poet?http://historyofliterature.com/42-was-prince-a-poet/
Mon, 16 May 2016 04:06:41 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=276http://historyofliterature.com/42-was-prince-a-poet/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/42-was-prince-a-poet/feed/0He was a supremely talented musician and composer – but was he the voice of his generation? Jacke and Mike take a look at the life and lyrics of Prince. Show Notes: You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/42-was-prince-a-poet/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">42 Was Prince a Poet?</span></a>He was a supremely talented musician and composer – but was he the voice of his generation? Jacke and Mike take a look at the life and lyrics of Prince.

]]>He was a supremely talented musician and composer – but was he the voice of his generation? Jacke and Mike take a look at the life and lyrics of Prince. Show Notes: You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).276 41 The New Testament (with Professor Kyle Keefer)http://historyofliterature.com/41-the-new-testament-with-professor-kyle-keefer/
Mon, 09 May 2016 04:06:10 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=268http://historyofliterature.com/41-the-new-testament-with-professor-kyle-keefer/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/41-the-new-testament-with-professor-kyle-keefer/feed/0Charles Dickens called the New Testament “the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.” Thomas Paine complained that it was a story “most wretchedly told,” and argued that anyone who could tell a story about a ghost or even just a man walking around could have written it … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/41-the-new-testament-with-professor-kyle-keefer/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">41 The New Testament (with Professor Kyle Keefer)</span></a>Charles Dickens called the New Testament “the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.” Thomas Paine complained that it was a story “most wretchedly told,” and argued that anyone who could tell a story about a ghost or even just a man walking around could have written it better. What are the New Testament’s literary qualities? What can we gain from studying the New Testament as a literary work? Professor Kyle Keefer, author of The New Testament as Literature – A Very Short Introduction, joins host Jacke Wilson to discuss what it means to read the New Testament as literature.

]]>Charles Dickens called the New Testament “the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.” Thomas Paine complained that it was a story “most wretchedly told,” and argued that anyone who could tell a story about a ghost or even just...The New Testament as Literature – A Very Short Introduction, joins host Jacke Wilson to discuss what it means to read the New Testament as literature.
Show Notes:
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).
“Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0Jacke Wilsonclean73:0926840 Radha Vatsal, Author of “A Front Page Affair”http://historyofliterature.com/40-radha-vatsal-author-of-a-front-page-affair/
Mon, 02 May 2016 04:09:02 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=263http://historyofliterature.com/40-radha-vatsal-author-of-a-front-page-affair/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/40-radha-vatsal-author-of-a-front-page-affair/feed/0Host Jacke Wilson is joined by special guest Radha Vatsal, author of the historical mystery A Front Page Affair. Radha starts by talking about her own adventure leaving India to study in America at the age of 16, which eventually led to an interest in the action film heroines and female journalists at the start of the … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/40-radha-vatsal-author-of-a-front-page-affair/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">40 Radha Vatsal, Author of “A Front Page Affair”</span></a>Host Jacke Wilson is joined by special guest Radha Vatsal, author of the historical mystery A Front Page Affair. Radha starts by talking about her own adventure leaving India to study in America at the age of 16, which eventually led to an interest in the action film heroines and female journalists at the start of the twentieth century. Radha also recommends four books for listeners and describes the historical research necessary to create the character of Kitty Weeks, a plucky female journalist in 1910s New York City who owns her own car and wants to write about more than fashion and gossip.

The Lusitania has just been sunk, and headlines about a shooting at J.P. Morgan’s mansion and the Great War are splashed across the front page of every newspaper. Capability “Kitty” Weeks would love nothing more than to report on the news of the day, but she’s stuck writing about fashion and society gossip over on the Ladies’ Page―until a man is murdered at a high society picnic on her beat.

Determined to prove her worth as a journalist, Kitty finds herself plunged into the midst of a wartime conspiracy that threatens to derail the United States’ attempt to remain neutral―and to disrupt the privileged life she has always known.

Radha Vatsal’s A Front Page Affair is the first book in highly anticipated series featuring rising journalism star Kitty Weeks.

“This lively and well-researched debut introduces a charming historical series and an appealing fish-out-of-water sleuth who seeks independence and a career in an age when most women are bent on getting married, particularly to titled Englishmen. Devotees of Rhys Bowen’s mysteries will enjoy making the acquaintance of Miss Weeks.” – STARRED Library Journal review; March Debut of the Month

“[A] spirited debut…Vatsal deftly intertwines the tumult of the era, from emerging women’s rights to spreading international conflict, into this rich historical.” – Publishers Weekly

“This first in a planned series is a nice combination of mystery and thriller seasoned by historical facts and a look at women’s lives before woman’s liberation.” – Kirkus

About the Author:

RADHA VATSAL was inspired by 1910s action-film heroines to create a heroine, Capability “Kitty” Weeks, an aspiring journalist who finds herself plunged into the tumultuous world of 1910s New York. Vatsal was born in Mumbai India, and has a Ph.D.from the English Department at Duke University (with a focus on silent-era film history). She lives in New York with her husband and their two daughters.You can find Radha at www.radhavatsal.com or on Facebook, Tumblr or Goodreads.

]]>Host Jacke Wilson is joined by special guest Radha Vatsal, author of the historical mystery A Front Page Affair. Radha starts by talking about her own adventure leaving India to study in America at the age of 16,A Front Page Affair. Radha starts by talking about her own adventure leaving India to study in America at the age of 16, which eventually led to an interest in the action film heroines and female journalists at the start of the twentieth century. Radha also recommends four books for listeners and describes the historical research necessary to create the character of Kitty Weeks, a plucky female journalist in 1910s New York City who owns her own car and wants to write about more than fashion and gossip.
Works Discussed:A Front Page Affair (Kitty Weeks Mystery) by Radha Vatsal
“The Forgotten Female Action Stars of the 1910s” by Radha Vatsal (article in The Atlantic)The Waterworks by E.L. DoctorowThe Vertigo Years: Europe 1900-1914 by Philipp Blom Front-Page Girls: Women Journalists in American Culture and Fiction, 1880-1930 by Jean Marie LutesOut on Assignment: Newspaper Women and the Making of Modern Public Space by Alice Fahs
A FRONT PAGE AFFAIR description:
New York City, 1915
The Lusitania has just been sunk, and headlines about a shooting at J.P. Morgan’s mansion and the Great War are splashed across the front page of every newspaper. Capability “Kitty” Weeks would love nothing more than to report on the news of the day, but she’s stuck writing about fashion and society gossip over on the Ladies’ Page―until a man is murdered at a high society picnic on her beat.
Determined to prove her worth as a journalist, Kitty finds herself plunged into the midst of a wartime conspiracy that threatens to derail the United States’ attempt to remain neutral―and to disrupt the privileged life she has always known.
Radha Vatsal’s A Front Page Affair is the first book in highly anticipated series featuring rising journalism star Kitty Weeks.
Advance reviews:
“The fascinating historical details add flair to this thoroughly engaging mystery starring an intelligent amateur sleuth reminiscent of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy. Vatsal’s debut will leave readers eager for Kitty’s next adventure.” – Booklist
“This lively and well-researched debut introduces a charming historical series and an appealing fish-out-of-water sleuth who seeks independence and a career in an age when most women are bent on getting married, particularly to titled Englishmen. Devotees of Rhys Bowen’s mysteries will enjoy making the acquaintance of Miss Weeks.” – STARRED Library Journal review; March Debut of the Month
“[A] spirited debut…Vatsal deftly intertwines the tumult of the era, from emerging women’s rights to spreading international conflict, into this rich historical.” – Publishers Weekly
“This first in a planned series is a nice combination of mystery and thriller seasoned by historical facts and a look at women’s lives before woman’s liberation.” – Kirkus
About the Author:
RADHA VATSAL was inspired by 1910s action-film heroines to create a heroine, Capability “Kitty” Weeks, an aspiring journalist who finds herself plunged into the tumultuous world of 1910s New York. Vatsal was born in Mumbai India, and has a Ph.D.from the English Department at Duke University (with a focus on silent-era film history). She lives in New York with her husband and their two daughters.You can find Radha at www.radhavatsal.]]>Jacke Wilsonclean56:1226339 Graham Greenehttp://historyofliterature.com/39-graham-greene/
Mon, 25 Apr 2016 04:11:47 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=260http://historyofliterature.com/39-graham-greene/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/39-graham-greene/feed/0Jacke and Mike reconsider the life and works of the great twentieth-century British novelist Graham Greene. Works discussed include The End of the Affair, The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, Babbling April, and The Third Man. You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/39-graham-greene/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">39 Graham Greene</span></a>Jacke and Mike reconsider the life and works of the great twentieth-century British novelist Graham Greene. Works discussed include The End of the Affair, The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, Babbling April, and The Third Man.

]]>Jacke and Mike reconsider the life and works of the great twentieth-century British novelist Graham Greene. Works discussed include The End of the Affair, The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, Babbling April, and The Third Man.The End of the Affair, The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, Babbling April, and The Third Man.
You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com.
Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766).
Music Credits:
“Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).260 38 Literary Duos (Part Two)http://historyofliterature.com/38-literary-duos-part-two/
Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:09:31 +0000http://historyofliterature.com/?p=256http://historyofliterature.com/38-literary-duos-part-two/#respondhttp://historyofliterature.com/38-literary-duos-part-two/feed/0When are two artists or characters more than the sum of their parts? How is that magic created? And what does it mean for the rest of us? Part two of a conversation with host Jacke Wilson and his guest, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, on great literary duos. You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com … <a href="http://historyofliterature.com/38-literary-duos-part-two/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">38 Literary Duos (Part Two)</span></a>When are two artists or characters more than the sum of their parts? How is that magic created? And what does it mean for the rest of us? Part two of a conversation with host Jacke Wilson and his guest, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, on great literary duos.